Facing the Darkness
by shinigamichild
Summary: AU HF arc. Finding death after 400 years, a Servant finds that she has been resummoned into the 5th Holy Grail War. Now, given the chance to prevent a apocolyptic future, will she be able to save the one who she had grown to love? First fic, be nice plz
1. The End

It was dark.

But the darkness wasn't normal. It was not natural. With the darkness came silence. If one listened, they can hear…nothing. No people, no wind, not even the noise of the smallest creature could be heard in this darkness. Whatever living had there been, whatever life there was in the world, was gone.

But Saber didn't care at all. As she walked, the only sound that can be heard for miles was that of her black greaves crushing whatever was underneath it. The place she wandered now, was the ruins of Fuyuki City.

How long had it been since she had taken the "Holy" Grail for her dark master, Sakura? How long had it been since, in her victory, Sakura had used the Grail to amplify the Shadow's powers and corrupted the world?

In her musings, she bumped into a figure. The figure whirled around and snarled, only to be cut in half by Saber's sword. Even in this darkness, the haunting light of the corrupted Excalibur briefly lit the area, showing Saber what was left of the city.

Decay had taken to the once tall skyscrapers of Fuyuki City. The ground beneath her was dead, barren of any life. As for the inhabitants…

With the Shadow's amplified powers, a wave of darkness encompassed the world. But instead of just destroying everything like a certain Gold King would have done, it had done something…worse.

As Excalibur's light faded, the figures of humans swaying in place faded back into the darkness. No, the inhabitants of the world didn't die. When the Shadow's wave engulfed the world, it corrupted every single being on it. However, unlike with Saber, Sakura felt she had no use for anyone else.

Instead, they became shadows of themselves. No self awareness, no conscience at all. What was left was a shell filled with the darkest emotions of humanity. Animals didn't survive the wave, unable to handle such hate. Neither did plants. As nature was granted an instant death, humanity was left to a fate far worse.

Saber moved along, the zombie like humans unconsciously moving out of her way. Wandering the city she was all too familiar with, Saber found herself at her destination.

The home of the late Emiya Shirou looked like any other building, in a state of long decay. The doors to the estate were gone, having long been torn down when an irritated Saber returned to this place...50 years ago? 100? It did not matter.

As Saber made her way through the estate, a sound reached her ears, making her stop to listen. Though not too far away, the sound of crying could be heard a few doors down. Saber stifled a sigh from breaking through her, and she walked to the room where the sound originated. Without a break in step, she opened the door.

An idle memory hit her, one where the room before her was a table where laughter came from a red haired teenage boy, giggles from a purple haired girl, silence from a blonde who was too busy eating, and sobbing from a woman with brown hair as she looked into an empty bowl. The picture was that of a happy, though a little unusual, family.

Just as the memory came, it soon left. The table was there, and at it was a girl with silver hair that came down to her shoulders. Instead of regular clothes, a darkness that outmatched that that holds the world clung to her body, showing off curves to whoever noticed. The girl was hunched over, her tears hitting an object in her hands.

The object was a photo. In it, the red haired teenage boy from her memory was smiling into the camera as he was standing next to the purple haired girl, who looked uncomfortable being so close to the tall male, but smiling nonetheless.

Saber fought the urge to sit next to Sakura. Earlier that day, while she was on the other side of the world, she felt a shift in her master's thinking pattern. Worried for her, Saber made her way back to Fuyuki city (via jumping through shadows since walking would have taken too long).

For the past 100 or so years, Sakura's mental state had been like a chaotic storm. Fits of rage became sobs of a tortured soul in seconds. Saber knew what was happening. The old Sakura was fighting. Though 300 years too late (or was it 400?), the horror of what had been wrought had plagued whatever remains of the old Sakura to the point where she somehow found a way to overcome her Shadow.

Saber, who could not do anything, was only forced to watch as Sakura relapses into her old self every so often, and then return to her Shadow state of mind. However, as of late, the old Sakura seems to be winning more.

The scene before her was proof of that. As she watched, the old Sakura cried over the picture from her past. A past that she tried to fight but lost to. With nothing left in the world, whenever the old Sakura gained control of her body, she always tried to kill herself. This always failed though, as her regenerative powers never let her die. Whenever this happened, Sakura would resign herself to mourning over her sins.

Without anything else to do, Saber sat across from Sakura. Sakura flinched too caught up in her mourning that she was unaware of Saber's arrival.

"Hello Sakura." Saber said, her voice in an uncharacteristic doting tone. After spending 400 years (pretty sure by now) with no one but mindless zombies and Sakura, it would be natural for anyone to grow fond of the only other coherent person in existence.

A soft smile appeared on Sakura's face, though it clashed very much with the tear stains. Though initially disgusted Saber when she first retook control of her body, she grew to appreciate her company whenever Saber came around.

"Hi S-Saber." Sakura said, her voice choked a little from crying. She quickly looked down, in order to turn away from Saber's cold eyes. Though they had grown fond of each other during the last few decades, the corruption of Saber's body and soul left for some traits that could never be changed.

Silence reined over the kitchen for a few minutes, during which Saber observed Sakura. Since the old Sakura had started to win back her body, some changes started to take place as well. Whenever she took hold of her body again, her normally red eyes would sometimes revert back to the light purple they were long ago. Sometimes, when she took control for a long time (longest being 3 days), her hair would show purple roots in them.

Saber's musings were broken as she heard Sakura speak. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that." Saber said.

A bit of a blush came to Sakura's face and she looked down. She mumbled something incoherent, and Saber couldn't understand it, no matter how much she tried.

"Try again." Saber said and waited. In her previous life, she might not have tolerated such a thing, but now she knew that her anger would do nothing but probably make things worse.

Sakura whispered again, but this time Saber heard it. "I want you to kill me." she had said, and Saber again fought the urge to sigh. When she found out that normal means would not kill her, Sakura sought out the only supernatural thing left in the world that could probably fulfill her wish.

Of course, Saber had refused. Though the Shadow's corruption had wiped away most of her humanity, what was left had centuries to build itself back up within her. And in that 400 years, what was once Saber's own sense of self had fought the corruption to the point that her emotions would not let her kill the only thing she had left in the world, even if it was an order.

"You know I won't do that Sakura." Saber patiently said. Sakura had tried time and time again to end her own existence through Saber, but the latter had fought it long enough.

A sad look passed through Sakura's face and stayed like that for minutes. What happened next would forever remain in Saber's memory.

The look on Sakura's face faded, and a new one took its place. This one was foreign and familiar at the same time. Foreign in that Saber did not recall seeing the look before, yet familiar as some part deep inside her said that the look was indeed familiar…and dangerous.

"I **need** you to kill me." Sakura said, her voice full of determination as she emphasized the word need.

Saber felt herself flinch on the inside. Sakura had never taken this tone of voice with her before. Again, there was a tugging in her brain that said that this should be familiar.

"I refuse." Saber said, her voice going back to its normal cold tone. Her body began to shake as the Shadow within herself demanded that she obey her mistress.

Sakura stood up and looked straight into Saber's eyes. In that moment, another memory triggered. This one, a long time ago, was one where a purple haired Sakura had the same look on her face as she passed a shocked Rin and Shirou and made her way to the kitchen.

"KILL ME!" Sakura yelled and Saber's senses flared with pain as her body moved on its own accord. Excalibur flashed into existence and started to glow.

Her body stood up. As much as she fought, she could not stop herself from charging her Noble Phantasm. Trapped in her own mind, Saber watched and felt as Sakura poured all of her mana into Saber in order to empower her attack.

'No! No! No!' Saber screamed into her head as she continued to struggle. But all for naught. As much as she fought, as much as she struggled, she could not stop herself.

She felt her arms lift above her head, her hands gripping tightly on her weapon. Dark Excalibur was brimming with so much power that the building around them shook.

"Ex-"Saber's voice came from her own mouth through Sakura's order in an almost mechanical tone. "Calibur!"

The last image Saber saw of Sakura was her just sitting there, a look of peace on her as the attack hit her head on.

The explosion that followed rocked Saber's body as every inch of her being cried out in pain. She felt herself fall as the toll of letting loose such a high powered blast left her without the ability to move.

When the pain had subsided enough to become bearable, Saber opened her eyes. She was on her back, looking up into the sky. Still unable to move, she laid there and cried as she tried to feel for the presence of her master. She found nothing.

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'How long has it been?' Saber thought to herself as she still lay in the position she was in 4 days ago. Without her master to sustain her, Saber felt herself slipping from the world. Unable and unwilling to move, Saber had resigned herself to just laying on the ground until she faded away.

As she felt her body fade, Saber saw something in the corner of her eye. There, in the sky, a single star illuminated the night. After 400 years of the world being shrouded in darkness, the first star to appear in that time came to be on the night of Saber's death. Struggling to, Saber moved her right hand up and reached for the star.

'I wish…that I could stop all this.' She thought to herself. 'Please, if there was any way, I wish that I could stop the horror that I had helped cause.' Saber wished with all her being.

And with that, she faded back into the world.


	2. That Fateful Night

This chapter actually came out smoothly. I didn't have to go back as much to make many changes.

Hope you enjoy it, cause I'm not gonna update for a while after this.

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Outside of the dimension where the mortal world resides, there is a small pocket where the laws of time and space do not exist. Known as the Throne of Heroes, this small dimension is occupied by the Heroes of history who have made their names known through their deeds, making their myths and legends transcend their own era of existence into the dreams of a world short or far in the future. But to say that these Heroes were the only occupants would be to assume wrongly. From their own sacrifices, regular humans who will never be known to the regular world on the same level as the Heroes have found their way to this plane. Bound to the world, the Counter-Guardians are cursed to the endless cycle of having to serve the world by stopping any threats to it within the infinite timelines that make up the reality of the world.

It should be noted that while the Throne of Heroes was small, it is only so in comparison to the world. With its actual size, the spirits who reside there can actually find their way to a part of the dimension where no one can bother them, should they seek it. One may find an area of solitude, but there is always the chance that another Heroic Spirit may find you and seek to pass eternity with small talk.

That was not the case for one spirit. When she finally returned to the Throne, those around her when she appeared fled from her presence. And who wouldn't? Having been engulfed so fully and for so long by darkness, the soul of the King of Knights reeked of so much of corruption that other souls left in fear of being corrupted as well. These actions, however, did not bring any seen reaction to the one who was known as Arturia Pendragon, more commonly known as King Arthur.

As she wandered the Throne of Heroes, Saber wondered why she had not returned to her body in her own timeline to wait until she was called into another War, as she had done before. As soon as she had thought of it, however, the answer came to her mind made her pause.

Her deal with the world was that if she succeeded in achieving the Holy Grail, she would finish her life and become a Counter Guardian for the world. However, the changes brought upon her from being subjected to the Shadow seemed to have had unseen consequences. Having all but destroyed the world and subjecting it to the same corruption she had within her, Saber's soul could not become a Counter Guardian because the world had no use for a soul that could (and has already) very much destroy it. A loophole, in her contract, it seems.

She had spent so much time with Sakura and the Shadow during the end of the world, that the darkness that warped her could not be undone. Even the most holy of magics would have a difficult time purifying Saber. No human body, unless prepared (which was the case for Sakura, sadly), could withstand such an abomination. And so when she had died after killing Sakura, she had returned to her own body.

Only to promptly destroy it as well when her unprepared body made contact with such a dark spirit.

And so she had died. Idly, Saber recalled that she had felt no pain when she had died. Instantaneous death really is as good as it gets.

With nothing left, Saber made her way to the edge of the Throne of Heroes. There, she sat and waited, far from any other spirits, hoping that fate would allow her last wish to be granted.

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Emiya Shirou woke up to the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. Groggily, he put himself into a sitting position and wondered what time it was.

"Sempai, breakfast is almost ready." The quiet voice of one Matou Sakura came from the other side of the closed doors.

"Ok, I'll be right out." Shirou responded and got up to dress for school. The sound of footsteps faded as Sakura made her way back to the kitchen.

As she put the dishes on the table, Sakura hummed a small tune to herself. Though her life at home was…unpleasant, spending mornings like these with Shirou seemed to ease the sorrow that usually plagues her.

Behind her, she heard the door open and a loud voice came through. "Good morning Sakura-chan!" A cheery voice yelled. Used to the volume, Sakura turned around and was greeted with the sight of Fujimura Taiga.

"Good morning Fujimura-sensei." Sakura said as Taiga made her way to the table. Dropping her bag to the ground, Taiga clasped her hands together and let out a gleeful noise at the sight of the food in front of her.

"Sakura, you've outdone yourself this time!" Taiga praised, as she usually did whenever she has a chance to taste Sakura's cooking.

Before Sakura could say anything, Taiga had already begun eating. Sighing to herself, Sakura hoped that Taiga wouldn't eat too much of the rice before Shirou arrived.

As if fate had heard her, the door behind Sakura opened again and Shirou stepped into the room, dressed in his uniform.

"Good morning Sempai." Sakura said and brushed a strand of her light purple hair behind her ears.

"Good morning Sakura." Shirou said, giving her a friendly smile that made Sakura blush just a little as he sat down at the table. "Hmm, you seem to have made quite a bit again. Can we finish all this?"

Before Sakura could say anything, Taiga had already begun talking. "This is for my lunch!" Taiga said as she took another bite. "Money's pretty tight for me right now, so Sakura-chan helps me by making such great food!"

"For your lunch, huh." Shirou had all but stated, frowning a little. "Isn't making Sakura do all this an abuse of authority or something?"

"No, it's okay." Sakura said as she prepared a bowl for Shirou. "If she's fine with the same food as me, then it's no extra trouble." She finished while handing Shirou his bowl.

As Sakura began putting away some of the dishes, she overheard Shirou continue to berate Taiga for making her make so much food. A smile came to Sakura's lips as she listened. It felt good to have someone actually care for you.

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When they had arrived at the school, Shirou and Sakura parted. Shirou went to go help his friend Issei with more broken objects and Sakura went to practice at the archery club. When she had gotten there and changed into her archery uniform, she couldn't help but overhear a group of students talking nearby.

"Damn that Shinji, he's being such an ass to those poor freshmen boys." Someone said.

"You know he only does that when Mitsuzuri-sempai isn't here." Another student whispered.

"Shh, be quiet or else someone might hear you." A third voice said quickly.

With that, the group moved away, unaware that Sakura had heard every word. A look of sadness fell upon her face as she heard of what had happened.

Sakura loved her brother. Despite everything he had done to her, deep down she knew she still loved him. Sometimes she would wonder if there was anything wrong with her for loving a person who continuously had his way with her, especially considering that every time she was unwilling.

So caught up with her thoughts, Sakura didn't noticed that she had made her way to the archery range. Pushing the subject of her brother to the back of her head, she allowed herself to concentrate in order to start her practice.

As she held the bow string back and prepared to fire though, Sakura's concentration faltered again as a memory made itself known. A time not too long ago where she, Shirou, and Shinji were together as friends just starting off in the archery club. Back when Shinji wasn't his arrogant self. Back when he wasn't hateful.

Though she allowed herself to reminisce a little longer with these thoughts, Sakura knew that she had to get some form of practice done. Half-heartedly pushing the memory aside, she again made herself ready.

Fate intervened into her practice, yet again, as a strong breeze came through the window of the building and Sakura had to lower her bow in order so that it doesn't let fly by accident. When the wind passed, Sakura tried to arm her bow again, only for the morning bell to ring.

If one walked into the archery building and looked at Sakura right then and there, they would see silver in the roots of her hair and an ominous aura around her. Thankfully, that wasn't the case as everyone else had left before hand. Sighing, Sakura went and got ready for class, her hair and aura returning to their normal forms.

Had she paid closer attention, she would have noticed that the ribbon in her hair was gone.

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As the sun finally disappeared from this side of the world, Emiya Shirou had already finished cleaning most of the archery club. For someone who was doing another person's job, the red haired teen seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. As sad as it is, the prospective hero of justice had long ago put the happiness of others before his own, not discriminating on whether or not the other person deserved to be helped.

When Shirou got to the actual archery range, he noticed something on one end of it that probably shouldn't have been there. Going to investigate, Shirou found that a piece of fabric was the source. As the sun had already set and there were no lights within the building, Shirou held the cloth up to the window, where the moonlight shined brightly.

'How odd, the moon is shining brighter than usual tonight.' Shirou noticed.

When he did, he found that the cloth looked very familiar. "Sakura's hair ribbon?" Shirou mused out loud. "Hmmm, she must have lost it during her practice." Shirou concluded as he pocketed the ribbon, thinking of giving it back to Sakura when he returned that night.

As he turned to return to work, Shirou heard something. Looking up to listen carefully, he noticed that it was the sound of metal clashing against metal.

"Was that from the school yard?" Shirou asked out loud and went to investigate.

Little did he know that this night will set him down a path he never could have dreamed of.

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He ran.

As fast as his legs could take him, Shirou ran. Even when his recently healed heart started to ache with pain from the wound he had received earlier that night, he still ran. Towards the only safe haven he had in his home, Shirou fled from the blue haired man that had pierced his heart with a blood-red spear just hours ago.

Feeling a shift in the wind to his left, Shirou looked up just in time to see the man in blue kick him in the side. The force behind the kick was of inhuman strength, as it launched Shirou straight towards his destination, though quite painfully.

As he got back up, Shirou had only a split second to move as the blue haired man attacked again. Unable to do anything else, Shirou backed up, hoping that his makeshift weapon could hold out. Parrying another attack, he was forced into his workshop.

Getting up yet again, Shirou found himself face to face with his attacker.

"Just give up." The man who had killed him once before said.

Gritting his teeth, Shirou forced himself up and lunged at the blue haired man. Only to have his weapon shatter when the man flicked his spear at it. With nothing left to defend himself with, Shirou stood there as the man leveled his spear at Shirou.

"Checkmate." The man said, "I have to say kid, you've impressed me. Perhaps you were the seventh one?"

"Seventh one?" Shirou muttered to himself, confusion becoming more prominent in him than fear was at the moment.

A grin came to the other man's face as he chuckled lightly. With the red eyes though, the grin and laughter looked and sounded evil.

"Even so, this is the end."

At that moment, anger filled Shirou. 'It can't end this way.' He raged in his mind. 'I won't let you kill me!!'

Suddenly, pain came from his left hand. As soon as it did, a bright light came to existence in the shed.

At the same time, Sakura's hair ribbon glowed lightly as well.

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She felt it.

A feeling that she had felt only twice before in her existence encompassed her. She knew what was happening. She stood up, making the first movement ever since she had sat here so long ago.

Without a second thought to it, she answered the call.

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The bright light didn't fade, but through it, both occupants could make out a figure taking shape. It moved all of a sudden, and the man with the spear suddenly found himself on the defensive as he was forced back by a monstrous force. The bright light still blinding him a little, the spearman had no choice but to fall back out of the shed.

Meanwhile, Shirou sat on his butt as he had been forced back by the sheer force of the attack as well. When he looked up, the form he saw made him stare.

His savior was dressed in pure black. Spiked gauntlets adorned the person's arms, the finger tips being claw-like. A breastplate made up the chest area, though if Shirou had paid it more attention he would have noticed at that moment that his savior was a woman. The person wore a black dress underneath the armor, though some parts of it seemed to be stained with red.

When Shirou looked at the face of the one who saved him, he was struck with awe. Pale white skin, so pale that it should be unhealthy, covered the face of this being. Platinum blonde hair was put up into a neat bun. But her eyes…

A pair of cold yellow eyes looked down onto Shirou. The slit-like pupils gave her an exotic look, but as Shirou looked directly into her eyes, he couldn't help but feel something…indescribable lay behind them.

"Servant, Saber, has arrived as summoned." The person now known as Saber said in such a cold voice that it made Shirou shutter.

"Inquiry. Are you my Master?" She continued, her face still holding the cold look.

But as he continued to look at her, Shirou found that even though the person in front of him looked so much like the Death itself, he still couldn't help one thought from coming to his mind.

'She's…beautiful.'

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AN: If you can logically conclude as to why the ribbon was in here, I will know for sure that you can use your brain.

No offense, but I've seen too many reviews of other works where some readers could not piece together facts and just flamed the author for not making sense to them.

As for my explanation of why Saber is now a Heroic Spirit instead of going back to her body as she had done at the end of the anime and 4th war, I made it all up. After about 2 hours of thinking and reasoning, the explanation I wrote makes the most sense.

If you find flaws in it though, please feel free to point it out in a manner that I can see where you're coming from.


	3. The Dark Knight

Hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer (really, do I need to do this?): I do not own Fate/Stay Night or anything from Type-Moon.

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Silence reined over the shed as Shirou just sat on the ground, staring up at the black-clad knight. He was so struck by her appearance that the fact that he was so close to death just moments ago did not appear to be affecting him anymore.

"Servant Saber has arrived as commanded. What are your orders Master?" Saber repeated her question.

"…Huh?" came Shirou's intelligent response.

Saber's face retained its neutral look. On the inside however, a myriad of activities were going on in her head. She had been here before. Everything about this place was exactly the same as to when she was last summoned. The same shed, the same time of day (her inner clock told her), and the same boy who summoned her…

Shirou. The thought of the red haired boy who had once been her Master (and now is again) brought Saber's full attention back to him.

'He looks so young, so naïve, so…innocent.' Saber thought as she looked into those wide eyes of his. The Shirou before her was the one who would have sacrificed himself to save her. The one who aspired to be a hero of justice.

Saber grimaced on the inside at that particular thought. The Shirou from her time had given up his ideas to be a hero of justice when he had found out that he would have to kill Sakura in order to save the world. But he still fought in order to try to save Sakura from herself. Saber had come to respect that Shirou, especially when she saw how far he went to try to save Sakura.

_Flashback…or forward, whatever_

_Saber was no stranger to pain. Being raised as a warrior in her life and then a hero of supernatural power in death, she had grown adjusted to pain. But in the state she was currently in right now, only her forced conversion into a minion of the Shadow could compare to this. She couldn't move her body at all, her bones being destroyed and her vital organs torn to shreds and lying out in the open. Because she was a Servant, nothing short of destroying her heart or brain would kill her. Her only relief came from her regeneration ability, which slowly patched her back together. That, however, was a mixed blessing as well as she would remain conscience the whole entire time. Judging by the damage inflicted though, it would take about ten minutes until she could get back up._

_More than enough time for Shirou to finish her off._

_Saber smiled at the thought of Shirou. She turned her head slightly to face the direction where Shirou currently laid, trying hard to ignore the pain that ignited in her neck._

"_You've become strong Shirou." Saber whispered, her voice slightly distorted by the blood build up in her throat but still laced with admiration. "No, you've always been strong. Finish me. If you're going to save Sakura, you must hurry on." Saber finished, closing her eyes and resigning herself to her fate._

_There was no response._

"…_Shirou?" Saber said, opening her eyes and tried to take a closer look at his fallen form. His last attack must have taken so much energy and mana because after it was complete he fell from exhaustion. Saber, who was not expecting such a feat, couldn't properly prepare for it in time and had to take the full force of it, leaving her in her current state. When she looked at Shirou, she knew right away that he was still alive. She could still hear his heart beating at a healthy pace. Why wasn't he moving though? Why…_

_Then she saw his eyes. They were wide open, staring out at Saber. But they were vacant. There was no conscience behind them. Nothing. His body was still alive and well, but Shirou's mind was gone._

"…_I guess I win." Saber said and stared up at the ceiling. She felt tears build up in her eyes but she didn't let them fall. In the distance, the echoes of a battle faintly reached her ears._

"_Ten minutes. Can you save your sister in time Rin?" Saber asked aloud, but it didn't matter. No matter who won, the worlds of Tohsaka Rin and Matou Sakura were destined to be darker without the presence of Emiya Shirou._

_Flashback end_

Saber narrowed her eyes as her battle sense brought her back to the real world. It seems that she and her Master were still in danger. Without waiting for Shirou to say anything, she turned and jumped out of the shed.

"Hey wait!" She heard Shirou yell but paid it no mind.

Outside the shed, Lancer waited. When the new servant had been summoned, his instincts immediately went on high alert and he retreated quickly.

As Saber came out of the shed, Lancer leveled his spear and got ready. But as Lancer observed his opponent, every bone in his body said that he needed to flee. He ignored it though. He had his orders to test all new servants. Thanks to his "Master's" orders, he couldn't go all out like he wanted to. But even with that handicap, he will be damned if he didn't give this girl hell.

"Well then," Lancer said while tightening his grip on his spear. "Let's get started."

"Hmph." Was the only response Saber gave before charging forward at a speed that took Lancer by surprise. Dragging her sword in the dirt, Saber swung upward into Lancer's spear.

Lancer gritted his teeth as he was pushed back by that one blow. He didn't have time to counter attack either, as Saber kept coming at him at a ferocious pace.

Saber pressed Lancer back with every swing of her sword. Because the Grail augmented the Shadow in her time, the Shadow had in turn taken Saber's own abilities to new heights. This second time around, Lancer didn't stand a chance.

As the battle continued, Lancer came to the same conclusion as well, of course without the reasons why. He either had to end this now or run. Death was not considered an option.

He swung his spear in a wide arc, surprising Saber with the reckless move and forcing her to step back for a moment.

That moment was enough as Lancer jumped way back and moved into a different stance. Immediately, his weapon started to glow and the blade end started to shake.

Saber cursed when she saw what Lancer was doing. Even with her new speed she knew she couldn't make it to Lancer in time to stop his attack. If she charged forward, she would have less time to react, which could be disastrous.

"I have to say, this fight was enjoyable." Lancer said, though on the inside he silently cursed his Master. "But I must take my leave."

Saber gritted her teeth. Last time she had taken the bait and charged forward, unaware of what was ahead. Though she had avoided the blow enough that it wouldn't kill her, it still had cost her needed energy. While last time the attack had only missed her heart by a few millimeters, she was set to minimize the damage as much as she can.

"If you won't come to me, then I guess I'll have to end this myself." Lancer said and sprang forward.

"Gáe Bolg!"

Like lightning, it struck Saber. Lancer grinned when he felt Saber stop moving. The grin left though, when he saw her free hand shoot out and grabbed his spear. He tried to pull back but found that Saber had an iron grip that kept the spear in place. Keeping her grip on the spear, Saber pulled it out and then pulled it to the side, dragging a shocked Lancer toward her. She let go of the spear and before Lancer could retreat, she struck.

It is only because of Lancer's reflexes that allowed him to escape a fatal wound. Instead, his chest now sported a new not-so-deep gash.

Lancer jumped away again, but one can tell that the wound was already affecting his performance. He was crouched low with a hand over his chest, panting like a dog.

Saber stood straighter and pointed her sword at Lancer, appearing unaffected by the ultimate attack of the Clan watchdog. Though never arrogant, Saber couldn't help herself and let looked at Lancer in a taunting manner.

Lancer made a clicking sound in the back of his throat before jumping back again, this time dematerializing in mid-air.

Saber lowered her sword when she saw him revert to spirit form. Though on the outside she had appeared unaffected, on the inside was a different story, as usual. The lance hadn't missed its mark. Because of the curse that Gáe Bolg inflicts, Lancer's Hougu had to hit Saber's heart. But since she had time to prepare this time, Saber was able to counter it to the point that only the smallest fraction possible had touched her heart.

That said, one must remember that it would be extremely uncomfortable for a pointy object to even graze your beating heart. Really, it is.

Footsteps from behind alerted Saber to Shirou's presence. She turned to her Master, and watched as he stood there and stared at her. As she watched, Saber saw an array of emotions flicker in Shirou's eyes. Worry, fear, wonder, but most of all, confusion. And how couldn't he be confused? Saber knew that her Master has no knowledge of the war that fate had dragged him into. So she watched him, waiting for the conversation that was to come.

"Who are you?" Shirou asked, breaking the silence. The events that transpired tonight had left Shirou more confused than any other time of his life. What had happened? Who was this lady in pitch black armor that saved him?

"I am the Servant Saber." Saber responded, already anticipating this question. Saber tried her best to recall the events of the 5th Holy Grail War, down to the last detail. Try as she might though, only a few events stuck out, the ending being the most prominent. An ending she will do her best to prevent, or die trying.

"The Servant Saber…" Shirou said, testing the name as it rolled off his lips.

"Yes, so just call me Saber." Saber answered in her normal tone of voice. She remembered this particular conversation as well, if only because the person she was talking to had become one of a handful of people she had come to respect.

"Ah…well, my name is Emiya Shirou." He said. "Um…if I may ask…"

"I understand, you are not an established Master, are you?" Though not meant to be mean, Saber's cold voice coupled with the context of her sentence may have been taken as…anger.

And Shirou did take it as anger, for now he was more confused and even a little embarrassed because of the fact that he didn't know what was going on. Saber's blank stare didn't help at all.

"However, no matter what, you are my Master." Saber said, trying her best to not sound like her usual self in order to placate Shirou. "Since I am contracted to you, I will not betray you."

"W-Wait, my name isn't Master." Shirou stammered, the awkwardness in his voice back. First the girl in front of him seemed angry, now just cold? Shirou didn't get what was happening at all.

"Then, if it pleases you, I will refer to you as Shirou." Saber responded. "Yes, that is more to my liking." And a slight grin appeared on her face. Unconsciously, Shirou shivered at the sight. It just seemed a little…evil.

Without warning, a burning sensation developed in Shirou's left hand. He winced and grabbed scratched at it, only then noticing the strange symbol on the back of his hand. 'What the…' he thought.

Saber narrowed her eyes and turned her head to the side. At the edge of her senses, she felt the fast approach of a Servant. 'Just in time.' Saber thought.

"Shirou, we have company." Saber said and jumped into the distance.

"Wait!" Shirou's distant yell called to her, but she did not falter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Archer felt the presence of another Servant rapidly approaching his position, coming from the direction of the house of Emiya Shirou. Without a thought, he traced Kansho and Bakuya. He moved ahead, in order to put some distance between himself and his Master.

"Archer, what are you doing?" Rin yelled out when she saw her Servant's Noble Phantasm appear in his hands.

"A Servant approaches." Archer said back, and that was the only warning Rin had before a new presence made itself known and charged Archer.

Though Archer knew who was coming, the person before him took him by surprise and he felt the color drain from his face. 'What is going on here? Why is Saber afflicted by the Shadow?!' These thoughts raged in his mind as Archer defended himself.

Saber didn't speak as she kept up her attack. Swing after swing, yet Archer kept dodging. Finally, their swords clashed into a deadlock. With this opportunity, Archer voiced his thoughts.

"Why are you afflicted with the Shadow?" Archer whispered and Saber's eyes widen and it took all of her self-control to not gasp. He knew! How could Archer know when in her own time line he had died sometime after the battle in the Einzbern forest? This Archer shouldn't know anything!

"How do you know who I am?!" Saber whispered back, almost snarling, pressing forward to prove her point of anger. Before Archer could say anything, Shirou had arrived on the scene.

"Saber stop!" Shirou yelled out. Gritting her teeth in anger, Saber reluctantly jumped back, but remained in a defensive stance. This shouldn't be possible! No one knew who she was, yet the Servant in front of her who was regarding her with fear and caution knew what she was. If he spoke of it, he might put not just herself in danger, but Sakura as well.

Archer didn't drop his guard at all. In one of the timelines where he had been summoned, the Shadow had awoken and had quickly became such a threat that he had abandoned his quest to kill his past self in order to deal with a greater evil. At that time, he was greatly outmatched by the Saber that had been consumed by the Shadow. To find her here, on the first day of the War, what does this mean? And she was obeying his younger self, who Archer was pretty sure didn't know anything about the woman he commanded.

Archer felt his objectives change right then and there. He could try to kill his past self later, right now the presence of this…dark Saber made him worry for this timeline.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Rin made her presence known to Shirou. "Good evening Shirou."

"Tohsaka?!" Shirou exclaimed. All Shirou can do was try to stop gaping like a fish at the arrival of one of his classmates.

As the two Masters talked, they didn't notice that the tension between the two Servants was heavy. Saber concentrated her focus on Archer, disregarding Rin as a threat. She analyzed him and looked back on what she knew of him. But from her searching, she found nothing. Archer was an enigma. The only noteworthy information was that Archer used the same weapons that Shirou had used to almost kill her in her own time. But that fact just confused her further…

Archer was doing the same thing. When he had faced this Saber before, she was cold, cruel, and downright evil. He had survived the encounter, only to die to his wounds in that time. Archer hated to admit it, but he didn't know much about the Servant before him.

But one thing he was sure of. The way she had reacted to his question before proved that she knew of the Shadow. She knew what she was, yet she was still the Servant of Shirou. In the timeline where he faced her, Saber had tried to kill them all. And yet, here she was. It just didn't make sense. What had happened in that time after he had died?

XXXXXXXXXXX

After the confrontation, Rin decided to take Shirou to the Supervisor for the War. There, Shirou learned of the War and of Masters and Servants.

Reluctantly, Archer and Saber dematerialized and stood by their Masters. Saber, though new to her spirit form because she hadn't been able to use that form in her previous wars, found that her mana and energy replenished at a faster rate than before. Sadly though, she still wasn't getting enough mana because of Shirou's barely open magical circuit.

'I'm going to have to fix this little problem soon.' Saber thought, already mulling over ways she could keep herself functioning.

As they left the Church, Saber felt something tug at the back of her mind. It was trying to get her to remember something important. But for the life of her, she couldn't-

"What's that?!" Shirou exclaimed and Saber snapped to attention and looked to where Shirou was looking at.

"Good evening, Onii-chan." A little girl with snow white hair and purple clothes greeted, standing a little in front of the giant Saber knew to be Berserker. "You too, Rin. My name is Illya. Illyasviel von Einzbern. You understand, right?"

Rin stiffened at the name. "Einzbern." She whispered, her voice barely concealing her fear.

Had it been in her character, Saber would have groaned out loud. Instead, she settled with mentally stamping her foot and letting an angry scowl appear on her face as her sword flashed into existence.

"Well, I don't need to introduce myself further, since I'm going to kill you." Illya said, her child like voice deeply contrasting with her plan.

"Kill them Berserker!"

With that, the monstrous form of the hero Hercules launched himself at the trio. Saber, prepared for the attack, met Berserker in a deadlock of blades. She winced and used her second hand to better grasp her sword. It seemed that even with her new strength, she was at a standstill with the one known as the strongest of the Servants.

"That's not fair, you shouldn't be able to hold my Berserker back!" Illya whined. "Berserker, kill her quickly!"

With a roar, Berserker pushed forward. Unwilling to give ground, Saber broke the engagement and jumped over Berserker, slicing downward as she somersaulted over him. A clang was heard and Berserker roared again as he waved his free arm to swat Saber away, catching her at her mid drift. Saber rolled in midair and landed gracefully a few yards away from Berserker.

'The attack barely left a scratch', Saber noted, 'but at least it left a mark.'

Out of nowhere, small balls of black energy started pelting Berserker in the face. However, they didn't have any effect on him as his attention was focused on the only real threat present.

"Don't bother with the weakling and just kill Saber!" Illya continued to scream out in her adorable child like voice, which caused a shiver to go down Shirou's spine at how wrong it was that a child to be saying such things.

Berserker obeyed and continued his onslaught. After a few swings, Saber found that trying to parry the large jagged rock sword took too much energy. So, she opted to just dance around him. One wouldn't think that Saber would be able to move so fast around the hulking beast, especially looking at the armor that adorned her body.

Illya was getting really irritated. "Berserker! Stop fooling around and kill her!" She commanded and then Berserker's body started to glow with a bright blue aura.

Saber knew that it was time to end this as well. Bringing her sword up, she started to unleash her Noble Phantasm.

The solid form of Excalibur disappeared, and in its place was a giant mass of dark energy that formed into a giant sword that looked too big for Saber's body to wield. Reality around the sword seemed to shimmer at the presence of such evil power.

From far away, Shirou and Rin felt the power of the blade and began to shake. Never before had they felt such a presence. Rin couldn't understand how this could be. The Grail was supposed to summon "Heroes". Normally, that means spirits of good, justice, etc. The point being is that there was no way that the Servant Shirou had summon should be evil. It just didn't make sense. Rin knew that Shirou was a good person and a weak magus. So how was it that he was able to summon an evil and powerful spirit?

The thoughts going through Shirou's mind, though not like Rin's, were just as questioning. Shirou would be one of the first to admit that he knew nothing of the Holy Grail War. But from what he did understand, it didn't make sense that his Servant, the person who had saved his life and who had pledged herself to him without hesitation, could be giving off such…a wrong power. That's all Shirou felt from the power that Saber was showing. It felt…dirty. It was suffocating him, even from here. But as it creeped all over his skin, Shirou couldn't help but feel deep down that there was something wrong with Saber.

Unaware of any of this, Saber channeled her power. Focusing her mana through Excalibur, she felt the sword that marked her legend come to life. It was…exhilarating.

"There will be nothing left." Saber proclaimed and lifted her sword farther.

Berserker did nothing but growl and hold his ground.

"EX-" Saber started. "CALI-ARGH!!"

Without warning, Saber's body started to spasm in pain. Dark Excalibur became its regular form and dropped to the ground. Every nerve in Saber's body felt like they were slowly dipped in molten lava. Saber dropped to her knees, stunned by this turn of events.

Without hesitating, Berserker charged forward and swung his weapon. Saber only had time to look up as the full force of Berserker's strength tore into her side, sending her crashing against a wall.

"Hahahaha, for a second I thought your Servant was a threat. But now I see she's just a weakling." Illya mocked.

Slowly, Saber crawled out of the debris and tried to stand up. The left side of her body was torn up and blood was flowing freely. The wound would have been fatal to a human, but only served to bring more pain to Saber's body.

Pain that dulled her to the fact that Berserker was approaching her down form.

As Saber tried to stand, Shirou watched on in awe. He watched as this person in front of him tried to stand, even though she was in so much pain. Even though any normal person would have given up. The picture…caused an odd feeling to flutter in his chest. The stomping noise of Berserker's feet told Shirou of what will happen next.

Without hesitating, Shirou charged forward. As Berserker brought his weapon back, Shirou had reached Saber.

"What are you doing?" Saber muttered, her yellow eyes heavy as she tried to concentrate.

Shirou didn't answer and Saber's eyes opened wide when she felt her form being pushed aside. She tried to turn, but the sound of flesh being torn quickly reached her ears.

Time seemed to stop as Saber slowly turned her head. The image before her was one she had seen before. Back then, the same fear that was creeping into her heart was present back then as well. Some part of her mind told her that Shirou will survive, but it was ignored. The memory of back then and now forced another memory to the surface of her mind as well. The memory of Shirou when he was truly dead…

'No.' Saber thought. 'No. no. no. no! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!'

"SHIROU!" A voice screamed and it took a while for Saber to realize it was her own.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Far away, on the other side of town, a girl with purple hair woke from her sleep. She thought she heard a voice in the distance, but brushed it off as the last remains of a dream.

As she fell back asleep, Sakura was ignorant to the stirring of the Shadow in her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wow, this chapter took a bit. If any of you are wondering, yes I'm aware that Dark Saber may be a little (and I hate to admit this) OC.

But you have to remember that this is a Saber that lived for centuries, so she won't be the same evil one from before.

That, however, doesn't mean that a lot of things have changed.

Until next time.

Signed

The self proclaimed death god child.


	4. Reminisce

To get a better picture, here are Saber's stats:

True Name: Arturia Pendragon

Class: Saber

Master: Emiya Shirou

Alignment: True Neutral

Now, I know many of you will wonder why this is. I don't really want to reveal too much in these so you'll have to draw your own conclusions.

Stats

**Strength: A+ **

Able to wield heavy weaponry and armor.

**Endurance: A+**

Can take heavy blows, though only when in battle alert status. When caught unaware, Endurance is reduced to A.

**Mana: A **

Due to her long exposure to Sakura in her augmented Shadow form, Saber now has a larger pool of internal mana. However, because her Noble Phantasms had also been augmented, they cost more mana than she has on her own.

**Agility: B**

During the 400 year period, Saber regained most of her agility that was lost when initially under Sakura.

**Luck: B**

See above as well, though I'm still not sure exactly how luck plays into this. Only thing I can think of is that she got smarter.

**Noble Phantasm: EX**

See below.

Personal Skill

**Instinct: A+**

**Mana Burst: A**

**Charisma: C**

Noble Phantasms

**Invisible Air: B **Anti-Unit Support

Excalibur is surrounded by tendrils of black energy that, when hitting an obstacle, disrupts any magical interference. In simple terms, a really heavy attack that actually has the speed of a medium strike.

**Excalibur: EX **Anti-Fortress

Excalibur morphs into a sword of pitch black energy that reflects the corrupted nature of the world Saber had left behind.

I may add in Avalon and maybe even Caliburn because since she's a Heroic Spirit now, she should have access to all the things that made her a legend. However, it is very unlikely as Saber already seems to be quite powerful.

**WARNING**: Some parts of this chapter will leave a lot of you angry and/or sad. Just so you know, this is the reason why I had this categorized as Angst as well.

You may hate it, but show a little empathy and you'll love it.

Anyway, enjoy the next chapter (I hope)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Silence._

_It was too silent. No, there had to be some form of sound somewhere. The wind? The sounds of animals? Anything to show that something was alive in this vast plain of darkness._

_But there was nothing._

_Then suddenly, a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder overhead. The area, illuminated by maybe the only light left in the world, showed a city._

_Or what was left of it. _

_The rain fell hard and harsh. A storm that suddenly encompassed the city, yet it did nothing to the only two occupants._

_High on the remains of what could have been the tallest building in the ruins, a lone figure stood still. She didn't move, keeping perfectly still as a statue, as her yellow eyes looked down below. Her hair, though in its normal braided bun, only swayed in the storm. Never blinking, never turning, the figure watched like a silent guardian._

_Several stories below her, another figure was present in what remained of a courtyard. Unlike the one above, this one was moving. Swaying to what could be the last storm for decades to come, the figure danced along the remains of the ruins, her long silver hair matted to her, but it did not seem to bother her. In the short bursts of light that briefly illuminated the area more times than in the past few decades, she danced, almost sensually._

_Not even deterred by the fact that every so often she would step and crush human remains._

_Over the storm, the sounds of a melodic tune echoed. A soft lullaby escaped the lips from the one who danced below. A song that made the world seem a little more eerie than before. _

_And so she danced._

_Never faltering._

_And the one above watched._

_Never faltering._

Shirou woke with a start. Rays of sunlight streamed in from the only window, but it did not fully illuminate the room. As he tried to sit up, Shirou found that something was constricting his mid-section. He reached down and pulled his shirt up, and what he found confused him.

'Why am I bandaged?' Shirou thought. But before anything else, something flashed in his mind.

_Thunder roared above as she watched her charge. Unaffected by the harsh winds, she continued to stand guard. _

"What was that?" Shirou whispered as he chased the silhouette of the dream that was fading quickly. The flashes of light in his dreams were brief, but he could have sworn that one of the people he saw in it was Saber.

Brushing the dream to the back of his mind, Shirou got up and went to the bathroom. Yet even then, the dream continued to nag him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the other side of the estate, Saber sat on the porch facing the east. She was not wearing her armor this morning. Instead, she wore a black dress that barely reached her knees with white frills at the end. A bodice held the dress at the midriff. She also wore black stockings that covered most of her legs, ending under the cover of the dress. (AN: for a better picture, google saber alter gothic dress and go to images. The first result is what I mean. Also, I don't know how Saber got her regular clothes in the first place, did Shirou have them in the house already??)

How she came by this intricate gothic dress was a question not worth asking.

Before she was turned into what she is now, Saber would have taken to meditating in the dojo. The silence there would have calmed whatever frustrations that was on her mind. But that was before.

She didn't want to go to a place of silence anymore.

Last night, she had been summoned into the 5th Holy Grail War. Though events could have turned out better, Saber knew she shouldn't complain at all. Here was her chance to make things right. Whether she lived or died in the end didn't matter to her, as long as she made sure that the future she lived through would not occur here.

But as these thoughts swirled in her mind, something bright hit Saber's eyes. She shut them tight and even brought her arm up to block out the sunlight.

Wait…

The sun?

Slowly, Saber opened her eyes, peering through the lens only slightly to allow her eyes time to adjust. What was actually a few seconds seemed like hours as Saber fully opened her eyes and looked into the new sunrise.

The first sunrise she had seen in over 400 years.

As she watched, her senses expanded to the area around her. Birds chirped as they took to their morning routines. The wind blew softly, caressing the world as it went by. The beginnings of the day started as people in the city stirred.

Saber felt moisture run down her cheek and she used the back of her hand to brush it away. Not even caring that she was crying, Saber watched the world begin a new day.

Yes, she will make sure that this world does not meet the same end hers did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That was where Shirou found Saber. As he turned on the walkway, he spotted her sitting in a meditative position. From where he stood, Shirou was stunned at the image.

Saber sat in a perfectly still position, the only movement being the wind moving her bangs and the edges of her dress. The light from the sunrise cast a glow onto Saber's pale flesh, and the soft smile on her face made her look as if she was at peace.

Forgetting the dream completely and the frightful image of Saber Shirou saw last night as she fought, the same thought that came when he first saw her echoed in his mind.

'She really is beautiful.' Shirou's mind thought on its own. Shaking his head and trying to force down the blush that had appeared, Shirou stepped forward.

Hearing his footsteps, Saber opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Shirou. As she did, her face reverted to their usual blank look.

"Good morning Saber." Shirou greeted as he stopped just a few feet away.

Saber didn't respond as she got up and walked toward Shirou.

"I see that you have awakened, Shirou." Saber answered after a few moments of just staring at him. Standing face to face with him, Saber noticed that he was sweating a little and that his face seemed a little red. "Though, by the looks of it, you seem to be unwell. You're sweating quite a bit and your face is red. Are you sure you should be up?"

"Wha-? No no, I'm perfectly fine." Shirou said quickly and looked away from Saber.

Saber tilted her head to the side, the only indication that she was confused as her face still remained blank.

"Good, because there is something I wish to tell you." Saber said, catching Shirou's attention. "I appreciate what you did last night."

"Well, I don't need a reason- wait what?" Shirou was shocked. He had fully expected for Saber to tell him that protecting her last night was foolish. Heck, even Tohsaka had berated him earlier for protecting his Servant, an action that was unheard of, according to her.

"Even though you had only known me for a few hours, your willingness to protect me showed a great deal of character. It must have taken a great deal of courage for you to commit such an act." She continued, her face still remaining blank but this time, Shirou can see the gratitude in her eyes.

Shirou blushed, not used to such a compliment. Especially one that commented on his character. 'Tou-san, maybe I still can be a hero of justice.' He thought, his body swelling with pride.

"However…"

Shirou was broken out of his little moment and looked back at Saber. This time though, there was a slight frown on her face.

"While I do appreciate what you did, I have to say this. No matter how the way I look at it, your action was still foolish. For you, a human, to try to stand up to the one known as the Strongest Servant, is nothing short of suicidal. Had it not been for my own healing powers, you would have died last night." Saber said, and with every word promptly tore down the feeling Shirou had before.

As she said this, she made her way around Shirou and began to walk away. Shirou, completely stunned by her words, just stood there as he let it soak in.

"Shirou."

Snapping out of his stupor, yet again, Shirou turned around. Saber was on the other side of the porch at the corner, but she had turned a bit to face him.

"Though what I said just now may seem harsh, it does not undermine what I had said before it." Something passed before her eyes and Shirou thought it looked like…sadness? Before he can identify it, she had turned away.

"I just don't want to see you die." She said and continued to walk away. 'Not again.'

Shirou just stood there, confused and speechless.

"Shirou, where are you?" A cheery voice echoed throughout the estate.

For the third time today, Shirou had something to be surprised about. 'Shoot, I forgot about Sakura and Fuji-nee!' Shirou thought and started running to find Saber.

When he turned on the walkway, however, he found it empty.

"Where did she go?" Shirou wondered. Hoping that Saber hadn't gone to meet his guests, Shirou hurried on to the living room.

When he got there though, he only found Taiga at the table as Sakura prepared breakfast in the kitchen.

"Shirou, are you alright? You look quite tired." Taiga asked as Shirou walked in. Not spotting Saber anywhere, Shirou sighed in relief. It would just be too much to try to explain Saber's presence here.

"I'm ok, I just didn't sleep well last night." Shirou lied. Taiga eyed him oddly but anything she was about to say was cut off when Sakura started to bring the food to the table. Instantly, she started to stare and drool.

Noticing the amount of plates Sakura had made, Shirou went to relieve her of some of the dishes.

"Good morning Sakura." Shirou said as he took some of the plates to the table.

"Good morning to you too Sempai." Sakura smiled and once again brushed a strand of hair behind her left ear. Only then did Shirou notice the absence of her hair ribbon. Remembering instantly, Shirou dug into his pocket for it.

Strangely enough though, he found everything he usually keeps in his pockets, but not the hair ribbon. Where had it gone?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rin quietly sipped the tea Archer had prepared for her this morning. The moment her lips touched the liquid though, Rin knew something was off. Putting the teacup down, Rin looked at Archer.

"Archer, any reason why you chose to use my good tea this morning?" Rin asked.

Archer was standing near the window so Rin had to turn her head while she was sitting on her chair. From her angle, Rin couldn't see the brooding look on Archer's face.

"…Archer!" Rin said with more force this time.

It had its desired effect as Archer turned around to look at Rin.

"Did you say something?" He asked innocently.

A tick appeared on Rin as she tried to keep calm.

"Yes, I did. Why did you use my good tea this morning? You know I only use those for when I'm stressed." She said in a slow voice, trying and failing to keep herself from lashing at him.

Either not noticing that Rin was agitated or not caring about it, Archer responded in with a straight face.

"Because you are stressed."

Another tick appeared on Rin as she tried, and failed, to keep herself calm.

"I am not stressed out. Why would I be?" Rin spat out and then went back to sipping her tea.

"Because of Emiya Shirou's Servant."

Rin paused in her drinking at that statement. Though she didn't want to admit it, Archer was right. The Servant Saber has been on Rin's mind ever since they had encountered her the night before. Her appearance, the strength she showed when she went toe to toe with Berserker, and the power she gave off when she almost unleashed her Noble Phantasm. All of these things revolved around the subject of Saber, and as of now left one conclusion in Rin's mind.

"She's not normal, even by Heroic Spirit standards, is she?" Rin stated more than questioned.

Archer didn't respond, only nodding at Rin's assessment. Right now Archer didn't know what to think. Last night he had stayed with his Master the entire night when she showed Shirou to the Church. He was even there when Illya and Berserker had appeared. The fact that he did not help Saber in the battle against Berserker had infuriated Rin at first.

But then he told her his reason. "I needed to assess Saber's abilities." He said. As Archer watched her fight, he knew that she still held the strength that he had to face in the other world. Because Saber had been able to leave marks on Berserker, Archer was more inclined to think that she was even stronger than before.

'Things aren't bolding well. This Arturia is even more powerful than the one I knew.' The white haired spirit sighed. 'And yet…'

One thing Archer didn't expect was Saber's reaction to Shirou's intervention. Archer knew Arturia well enough, seeing as he had her as his Servant during his life and now had to fight her as a Servant in the 5th Holy Grail War. Though this dark Saber was a heartless monster when he had seen her in that other world, something changed. Archer had looked into Saber's eyes last night and saw something he rarely saw in the King of Knights and didn't expect to see in this new Saber.

Fear.

It may have been well hidden from everyone else, but Archer knew without a doubt that genuine fear had gone through Saber when Shirou had taken Berserker's blade for her. This fact alone destroyed half of the theories that Archer had come up with and only served to bring up many more questions.

"I think we should go look for the other Servants." Rin stated, breaking Archer out of his musings.

"Oh? While I agree that there are others out there that need to be addressed, what do you plan to do about Emiya Shirou and his Servant?" Archer asked.

"Simple really. I've known Shirou for quite a while now. He may be forced to fight in this War, but he won't be looking for a fight. The only ones he will go after are those that hurt the people not involved in the War. I'm pretty sure that, if anything, we should just keep an eye on him." Rin explained as she finished her tea. "I'll go get my bag, be ready to go to school soon." She finished as she left the room.

Archer only stood there for a few moments as he turned back to the window. 'Rin is right in that Shirou won't be a threat to us.' Archer thought. 'But she doesn't know Saber like I do. She doesn't know that Saber is likely to go off fighting without her Master's permission.' The memory of Saber going off to fight at Ryudo Temple quickly came to mind.

'I'm going to have to keep a close eye on Saber.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Saber rematerialized back in her room. When she had felt two presences pass through the boundary field, she knew immediately who they were. Without a word about it to Shirou, she disappeared and left for a place in the house where she wouldn't encounter them.

In the confines of a spare room far away from the living room, Saber fell to her knees and sighed. The second she felt Sakura's presence, Saber knew she was not ready to face her. Not yet, anyway.

Reaching into the folds of her dress, Saber pulled a ribbon out. While she had been moving Shirou around while he was healing, it had fallen out of his pocket. Recognizing it for what it was, Saber had picked it up and hid it before Rin had seen it.

Tenderly looking at the ribbon in her hand, she reached to her bun and felt the ribbon there.

_Flashback_

_She had not seen it coming. The only hint of the attack was when she felt an anger spike come from her Master. Unable to defend herself, Saber had no choice but to take whatever came. _

_She grunted as she was hurled into another building. As she tried to get up, she felt something wrap itself around her waist and again she was lifted and slammed into the ground. Again and again this was repeated. Yet all Saber did was take it._

_Sometime later, it had stopped. Panting from exhaustion, Saber brought herself up into a sitting position. She wrapped an arm around her stomach area, feeling around. She winced when she came upon more than three broken ribs. _

_The sound of footsteps reached her ears and Saber looked up. Through the darkness, she could see the outline of her Master as she made her way toward her._

_She stopped right when she was hovering over Saber. Her long silver hair hanged in front of her face, making it impossible for Saber to see her eyes. But though she could not see them, Saber was sure she felt fury radiate from behind the veil of Sakura's hair._

"_**Why did you kill him?**__" The voice was quiet and sweet. It always was with Sakura. No matter what mood she was in, her voice always retained that tone. It was unnerving, especially when the voice didn't match the anger that was leaking from Sakura's body._

_Saber knew what was to come next. Though this wasn't a normal occurrence, it always left a lasting impression. Before, she had tried to calm Sakura down and explain what had happened in that fight so long ago. But that always made things worse for her._

_Instead, Saber looked down and tried to prepare herself for what was to come. _

"_**Get up.**__" Sakura ordered, and this time there was a deep tone that lay underneath her voice. The Shadow within Saber's body painfully made her stand up. Within moments she was standing in front of Sakura._

_A hand softly caressed Saber's cheek and she shivered. Though she knew what was to come, Saber still couldn't stop herself from feeling the shame and indignity that always came. _

_Saber felt the shadows reach into her armor and stiffened when she felt them slowly take off her armor. Try as she might, Saber couldn't retreat to the confines of her mind. The Shadow within her always made sure she was fully aware of what was to happen._

_The hand that caressed Saber moved to her chin and lifted Saber's head so that she looked at Sakura. Anger had left her eyes. Instead, lust took its place._

_Before her world exploded in agonizing pain, Saber heard her Master speak once more._

"_**You are mine.**__"_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_She didn't know how long it had lasted. Seconds were hours. Minutes were years. Her world was turned upside down. All she knew was that everything hurt. Her body, her pride, her soul, all of it hurt. As she laid on the ground, curled into a ball, Saber couldn't stop herself from crying. To be reduced to this, Saber knew she had fallen so hard. Though a part of her mind whispered that she was only serving her Master, Saber had started to resist it. This wasn't her. This wasn't who she was. She was a person, a knight, and though she had wanted to change it, she told herself that she was once a king. But now…she was just a toy._

_Time passed, and slowly the pain dulled away. But still Saber did not move. She was tired. She was so…so tired. _

_Footsteps behind her and Saber tensed. She hadn't felt her presence there at all. Instinctively, she curled herself into a tighter ball, in hopes of shielding herself from whatever pain was to come._

_But nothing happened. _

_Saber knew that Sakura was hovering right over her, yet she did nothing. Saber waited and waited, yet all she did was stand there. What is she doing now? Why-_

_Something wet hit her cheek and Saber tensed. A few more drops of moisture hit her, followed by the sound of a heart wrenching sob. Before she knew what was happening, Sakura had dropped to her knees and hugged Saber. Shocked, Saber realized that Sakura was crying._

"_I'm so sorry." the voice came from where Sakura had buried her head into Saber's side. "I'm so sorry. Oh God I treated you like Shinji treated me. Please forgive me Saber-chan, please! I didn't want this for you, please." She cried and cried and cried into Saber's body._

_Saber just lay still as Sakura continued to cry. Something tried to escape from her chest but she tried to fight it down. But it kept pushing and pushing against her, until Saber couldn't hold it anymore and it burst free._

_Getting up into a sitting position, Saber turned around and hugged Sakura. Without any of the restraint she had learned in her life, Saber openly cried in front of another person. The fact that she was naked didn't bother either of them. _

_Together, in a world that was dead, two souls cried._

_It may have been for hours that they sat there, but eventually their sobs quieted. Saber tried to get up, but found that her body didn't like the movement. Her knees buckled, but Sakura caught her before she could fall._

"_Oh, your hair is undone." Sakura noted, her voice cracking a little from all the crying._

"_It's nothing." Saber said. Sometime when the Shadow was having its way with her, the ribbon that held her hair together was torn away."I'll find something to hold it together somewhere in these ruins."_

_But as she turned to leave, Sakura caught her by the shoulder. _

"_Hold still." Sakura said and moved behind Saber. _

_Saber felt Sakura's hands go through her hair and wondered what she was doing. She felt her hair being put up, but when Sakura's hands left, her hair didn't fall. Reaching one of her hands to the back of her head, Saber felt that her hair was put into its usual bun. Spinning around, Saber looked at Sakura._

_Nothing about her seemed different until Saber looked into Sakura's hair. The ribbon that was ever present on her left side was gone. Stunned, Saber felt her hair again and found a ribbon holding her hair in place._

"_It was one of two ribbons." Sakura said, bringing Saber's attention back to her. "The other ribbon was with my sister. It was my only reminder of who I was before I became a Matou." _

_Saber didn't know what to say. She had never been given a personal gift like this before in her life. Without thinking about it, she took Sakura's hand and squeezed it._

"_Thank you." Saber said as she looked into Sakura's eyes. In that one moment in the 400 years they would spend together, they smiled._

_Flashback end_

Saber sighed as she felt the presence of Sakura, Shirou, and Taiga leave the estate. Though it was her duty as a Servant to follow Shirou, she did not want to risk going near Sakura until she was ready.

'No matter what happens, I will save you Sakura.' Saber thought as she looked out the window into the sun, clutching the ribbon.

'This, I swear.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And cut!

Review please, I like reading my reader's opinions.

Yes, this last part was very, very angsty (which was the point) and I had to keep myself from crying just writing it!

*sobs secretly*

Anywho, I hope you all like this chapter cause I had to dig deep in order to fully complete this to the best of my standards.

I so love the fact I have so much time because of the summer =D

So until we meet again, see ya later.

Signed,

The self proclaimed Death God Child


	5. A Confrontation

Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

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When Shirou returned home from school, he found Saber sitting in the living room watching the TV. She was in a kneeling position in front of the screen and didn't turn to Shirou when he had entered the room.

"Hello Saber. Are you feeling better?" Shirou asked as he put his book bag down by the table.

Saber turned her head and Shirou was met with her usual blank stare. Trying not to quiver under her gaze again, Shirou sat down at the table.

Saber returned to watching the TV and silence remained in the room. As Shirou was about to ask again, she answered.

"My wounds have mostly healed. I shall be able to fight as soon as you wish, Shirou." She said.

"That's…good, I guess." Shirou answered, letting the last part go as a whisper.

"Shirou." Saber turned her head around again, her blank stare replaced with what Shirou could only guess to be a serious one.

"I want to know what you plan to do about Archer and his Master."

Shirou blinked at her request. Inwardly, he shrugged. He should have known that at some point in time this would have come up.

"I don't really plan on doing anything in regards to them. They aren't killing any innocents so I have no reason to go after Tohsaka. Also, they helped us last time. I think we have a bit of a ceasefire going on." He answered Saber, scratching the back of his head in the process.

Saber was quiet for a few moments lost in thought and Shirou began to wonder what was going on in the blonde's mind.

"I have to disagree."

Her statement surprised Shirou and he showed it when he turned his head sharply to her with an expression that couldn't be anything else but surprise.

"Why?" he asked and Saber brought up her hand and began listing her reasons.

"One, there was nothing said between the two of you that was close to an agreement for no hostilities. Two, the only reason we didn't continue our battle the other night was because of Berserker's interference. Three, and most importantly, Tohsaka is a magus." She listed off.

"What does Tohsaka being a magus have anything to do with this?" He asked, utterly confused at the fact that being a magus was one of Saber's reasons.

Saber shook her head, the only outwardly sign that she may be irritated or annoyed.

"You do not understand that with a real magus, they bring their magic before their own life. Tied into their magic, is their own set of pride, beliefs, and set of mind. Because they bring their magic first, they do things that would sometimes be considered vile to their usual ways.

Tohsaka is no different. I got a look at her magical crest, and by the looks of it, she comes from a prestigious family. Because of this, she will likely view you as an enemy the next time you meet, even though you defended her and yourself against Berserker."

Shirou was dumbfounded by Saber's explanation. He really didn't know that being a magus would do such entitle such things that Saber had just said.

Because of his ignorance, Shirou didn't know that Saber had been lying when she said that she saw Rin's magical crest. Not once during their time together last night had the crest been in view. Had he known any better, Shirou would have also noticed that Saber's explanation was that of a modern magus. She shouldn't know the ways of anything modern.

Thankfully, he didn't know which made it easier for Saber to explain things without risking any unwanted questions to rise up. With the explanation out of the way, Saber moved on to the next subject.

"I will accompany you to school tomorrow." Saber stated before getting up.

Shirou shot up at that. "You can't! How will I explain your presence to everyone else? I-"

He was cut off by Saber. "I will remain in my spirit form and follow you to your school. That way, I will be able to protect you and remain unseen by everyone else." She said and Shirou stopped. "The only reason I did not go with you today was because I was still recovering from my wounds last night."

Shirou looked at her for a few moments, his mind trying to find any flaw in her logic. Unable to, he sighed and nodded to her.

Before he could say anything else, a voice cried out from the entrance.

"Shirou, we're here!" the voice of Taiga echoed through the estate.

Shirou turned his head to the direction of the voice. When he turned back to Saber, she was gone.

"Why is she always disappearing?" Shirou muttered to himself and then went to go help Taiga and Sakura.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning found Shirou walking to school, an invisible Saber trailing behind him. Shirou had tried to introduce Saber to Fuji-nee and Sakura again this morning, but could not find her around the complex.

Sighing to himself, he brought the issue up. Yet again.

"I still don't understand why you insist on not eating with us. It would be much better than having to wait until the others have gone before you can eat. "'Plus, it doesn't feel right.' Shirou said, adding the last part as an unspoken thought.

"It will be a disadvantage if normal humans knew of my existence." Saber repeated for the nth time this morning. While this was true in some sense, Saber knew that their knowledge of her existence wouldn't be that much of a bad thing.

But she still couldn't bring herself to face Sakura.

They continued the walk to school in silence. When Shirou crossed the gates though, he stopped and clutched his heart.

Saber, who was up until now eyeing the surroundings, noticed this action. Moving closer to Shirou than he would know since she was invisible, she whispered in a hush tone.

"What is it?"

Shirou was silent for a few moments before looking up and scanning the surroundings. He didn't answer Saber's question right away as he was busy looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Unable to find anything, he whispered back.

"I…don't know."

With nothing else, they moved onward.

None of them noticing the shadow in a nearby tree as it watched them carefully.

As Shirou went through the doorway that led to the hallway, he ran into Rin.

"Good morning Rin." He said and waved to her.

Rin, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes and scanned the area using her magic. When she scanned the area behind Shirou, she sensed the invisible form of Saber.

She nodded at Shirou and returned his greeting, before she walked off. Shirou was left there, confused at the quick greeting.

As she walked away, a single thought ran through her mind.

'At least he wasn't stupid enough to leave his Servant at home.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The day went by without any event. As Saber followed Shirou around, she watched his interaction with everyone else.

'So this is how life was before the Shadow.' Saber thought, suppressing the melancholy feeling that rose at the thought of the Shadow. The time to mourn has passed. Now, Saber had to press forward and do what she can for this world.

As she followed Shirou through the hallway, Saber noticed him pass Tohsaka Rin. Opening up her senses, Saber found Archer trailing behind his Master. As they passed one another though, Saber stopped. She knew that she had to confront this problem as soon as she can. There was no telling what consequences came with Archer's knowledge of her.

As she paused in the hallway, she felt Archer do the same. As their Masters went further down the hallway, the two Servants stayed in their spots facing away from each other.

No words were exchanged there, but the message was clear.

'I'm watching you.' The thought resounded in the minds of Archer and Saber.

Later on in the day, Saber felt Archer's presence leave Rin's side. Keeping track of him, Saber found Archer making his way to the roof of the building and staying there.

'So he wants to meet there…' Saber pondered and weighed her options. Right now, her Master wasn't in any immediate danger. In broad daylight, Saber knew that whatever Archer wanted, it wasn't going to be a fight.

Resolving herself, Saber left Shirou and headed toward the roof.

When she got there, she found Archer in the middle of the roof in his physical form. The way he was positioned, it would be impossible for anyone to spot them unless they came onto the roof through the only doorway.

Saber stopped a few yards away from Archer, more than enough sword room, and rematerialized.

Archer had his back turned to her, but he felt the shimmer in the air when Saber had become visible.

Turning around, Archer inspected the person in front of him. At the same time, Saber examined Archer as well.

For the next few moments, nothing was said between the two Servants as they assessed one another. The tension on the roof seemed to get thicker and thicker with each passing moment as the two just stood there, staring at each other. A calm before a large storm…

"Where did you get that dress?"

…And with that, the atmosphere lost all seriousness.

Had it been anyone else, the person would have been floored by that simple question. Since Saber has more dignity, the only reaction was a simple twitch in the corner of her lips.

"…That's none of your business." She replied, keeping her composure. The topic of her dress was one she did not want to address.

"Fine then."Archer said and then remained silent.

Irritation started to get the best of Saber as the white haired man didn't speak. He was the one who had come to this secluded area, a clear invitation to Saber to meet him there.

"…Well?" Saber asked in a voice that made the sunny day a bit colder.

"Well what?" Archer asked with his own question innocently, and this time Saber didn't stop the scowl that came to her face.

"You're the one who wanted to talk, so why are you just standing there?" Saber growled out.

"If you must know, I got tired of staying in that room all day and just came out here for some fresh air. You're the one who followed, so I assumed that you were the one who wanted to talk." Archer said in a serious voice and straight face.

Saber couldn't help but let the scowl on her face deepen. Unknown to her though, the one who was once Emiya Shirou was playing her. Since the time he knew her in his life to all of his interactions with Saber as he was now, Archer had learned how to push Saber's buttons.

Right now, he was doing just that. The results in front of him eased him a little. Somehow, this Saber who was consumed by the Shadow in the other world had regained some, if not all of who she once was. Except for obvious physical features and maybe the anger, Saber was acting the way the Saber Archer knew did when he was alive.

With these observations, Archer relaxed a little. Saber, on the other hand, was still a little irritated.

"How is it that you know who I am?" Saber asked, getting right to the point. "It shouldn't be possible for you to know, even though you were present in my world."

What Saber was saying was true. Since they were technically from different realities, the Archer here shouldn't know the same thing the Archer in her world did. With the exception of Saber who lived a second life there, no one else should know anything about her.

"The reasons why I know who you are is because I myself was there." Archer said.

Of course, such a broad statement didn't help. At all.

"Of course you were there. Just like Shirou, Sakura, Rin, and everyone else involved in the 5th Heaven's Feel were there. But what I'm asking is how, when everyone else is ignorant of the world I came from, do you know WHO I am." Saber was beyond irritated right now, as she marched up to Archer and poked him in the chest, her other hand on her hip.

But throughout this tirade, Archer kept his cool, even though he was surprised that Saber wasn't acting as composed as she usually did, even when angry.

'Just how much has she changed?' Archer thought as Saber waited for him to answer. He sighed as he pondered how he should answer her. Should he tell her the truth? That he was a Counter Guardian and therefore outside the normal rules that even Heroic Spirits have to obey. That when he is summoned, he retains his memories of what had happened the previous times he had been summon, even though Heroic Spirits usually forget?

Yeah, that will do.

"I am not a Heroic Spirit." Archer began and held up his hand when it looked like Saber might interrupt. "I am what you call a Counter Guardian. We share the Throne of Heroes with the other spirits and-"

"I know what a Counter Guardian is."Saber snapped before Archer could stop her. "But what does that have to do with this?"

"Simple really." Archer said. "Though we follow the same rules as Heroic Spirits do, there are still a few differences. One of those differences is the reason why I remember the fact that you were taken by the Shadow. Why I remember that you sought to destroy everything on your Master's whim."

To build up on what he was saying, Archer leaned in face to face with Saber, their nose almost touching. But Saber didn't step back or look away. Her pride wouldn't let her.

"It is because, unlike you Heroic Spirits, we Counter Guardians retain our memories of what happened when we were summoned." Archer whispered and backed away.

To say that Saber was puzzled was an understatement. If what Archer was saying was true, then that means…

"I will forget everything that happens here?" Saber asked, her voice having lost all hostilities before.

"I do not know what had happened to allow this, but you are a full Heroic Spirit now Saber." Archer answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can dematerialize, and I won't be surprised if you could use all of your powers you had in your life, including those you had lost. But the truth of the matter, is that yes, when this is all over, no matter what happens, you will return to the Throne of Heroes with no memories of what happened here."

This new revelation shook Saber. For the last two times she had been summoned, she didn't have the benefits of being a Heroic Spirit. To find out that being able to retain her memories of those times had been a blessing (or curse, she thought cynically) for NOT being a Heroic Spirit was a bit…upsetting.

'I won't remember any of them…' Saber thought. 'Fail or succeed, the only memories of Sakura and Shirou I will have are those from my second life.' Just the thought of it frightened her. She wanted to save this world. But in the end…all she will have left will be the memories of those 400 years. When she returned, she won't know whether or not she had saved Sakura from herself…

That thought resonated in Saber's mind.

'That's right.' Saber remembered. 'My wish was to prevent the future I came from. Whether I remember or not shouldn't matter.' At that moment, her resolved strengthen. 'I didn't come here for my own peace of mind. I came so that I can save Sakura.'

And just like that, her fear disappeared.

"Now then." Archer said, breaking Saber out from her moment. "Since I have answered your question, I believe it is only polite for you to answer mine."

Saber grimaced. She had forgotten about this. She wasn't sure whether or not she should tell Archer the truth. This moment could lead down many paths.

'One, he could end up as my ally and help me to save this world.' Saber reasoned. 'But he said he was a Counter Guardian and he knows about the Shadow…the question is, would he sacrifice Sakura? This option left too many things to go wrong.' Saber thought.

'Two, he will end up as my enemy. I want to stop the Shadow, but I don't want to hurt Sakura. He might just try to kill her and I won't be able to watch him all the time.' To Saber, this was the worst. She had to maintain her place at Shirou's side, leaving Archer to attack Sakura whenever he wanted.

'Or three, he doesn't do anything. This is probably the best, but most unlikely of the three.' Saber thought darkly. It would eliminate Archer as a threat to Sakura, but the likely hood of Archer letting Saber have free reign to do whatever she wanted was unlikely. 'He doesn't trust me.' Saber continued on in her monologue. 'Why would he, I practically killed him in the other world.'

All of this ran through Saber's mind, though on the outside she kept her face in it's usual blank stare.

"What is your question?" Saber asked in a neutral voice, hiding the anxiety that rose.

"Why are you here?" Archer asked after a few moments of silence. The already tense atmosphere seemed to grow even more with that question.

"I am here to fight for the Grail for my Master." Saber answered right off the bat. It wasn't a lie, though it wasn't really the truth.

"And who is your Master?"

"Shirou is."

"Oh?" Archer raised an eyebrow to Saber's last answer. "How do I know you aren't lying and that you aren't under the power of the Shadow like you were when you almost killed me?" Archer continued to accuse. "You look just the same as you did from the other timeline. Your presence even feels the same."

Saber didn't answer and looked down. Though she knew these questions would arise, she still couldn't find an answer to satisfy Archer. Revealing what had happened after his death was something she didn't want to do, just for the fact that Saber didn't know what he might do with that information.

"I'm not here as a servant of the Shadow." Saber finally said. "I…" Saber paused before resolving herself and looked Archer in the eyes.

"I want to save Shirou and Sakura."

Now, Archer didn't have the same kind of control on his emotions as Saber did, so he couldn't stop the surprise from appearing on his face. Nor could he hide the fact that he was looking deep into Saber's eyes, trying to find a hint of deceit. Saber felt like he was looking into the very core of her corrupted soul as he stared at her in silence.

Much to Archer's confusion and…hope, he found no trace of lying in Saber's eyes. He mentally snorted. Why was he expecting to find any? Even though he had only known Saber in her corrupted state for a little while, he knew that she still couldn't bring herself to lie to others.

"I know that you have no reason to trust me." Saber said, breaking Archer out of his thoughts. "You have every reason to believe that I am a servant of the Shadow, especially given my form. But you don't know what happened after you died. And don't ask." She said quickly when Archer opened his mouth. "I won't tell you. It…isn't pleasant." She was quiet again for a few moments as her eyes seemed to dull a little.

"But I ask that you believe in me. Believe that I'm trying to right what had been done wrong. I have no interest in the Grail, especially since I now know what it is. I just want to make sure Shirou and Sakura survive this."

After she finished, she was met with silence. What seemed like hours pasted as Archer just stood there, contemplating over what Saber had just said. He knew who and what the Shadow was. He knew that if it won, this world would meet a fate worse than death. He knew…

And yet, he wanted to believe in Saber. Deep in the bowls of his soul, the Emiya Shirou that had loved Saber cried out. Against his nature of a Counter Guardian, which dictated that he should kill Sakura in order to eliminate this threat, he couldn't bring himself to. Not when Saber looked at him with those…pleading eyes.

Sighing out loud, Archer prayed that he was making the right decision.

"Alright." Archer said and Saber looked up at him. "I…believe you."

Hope appeared in Saber's eyes, though it was still off set from the blank stare that always was on her face. 'Seriously' Archer thought. 'Can't she just crack a smile at least once?'

"In some of the time lines I have been in, Rin and Shirou were allies. This was, of course, when you were your original self." Saber visibly deflated at that comment. "The end results were mostly the same. Rin, Sakura, and Shirou survived this War."

'Much to my disdain that my younger self survived.' Archer added in with his thoughts.

"I know that Rin is already considering allying with Shirou, though she will deny it if I ask. I will try to…push her into going through with it. She doesn't show it, but Rin does care for Shirou." Archer said.

Before anything else was said, a bell rang echoed on the school grounds, signaling the end of the school day.

Both sensed their Masters on the move.

"Thank you." Saber said to Archer and her eyes convened the feeling of gratitude as well. With that, she turned to return to her Master.

"One question before you go." Archer said and Saber stopped before she opened the door. "From all the times I have interacted with you, I have never known you to plead or show your emotions so openly. What changed?"

Saber was silent, and from Archer's angle, her bangs hid her eyes. The wind blew by, bellowing her dress and her hair as she stood as still as a statue.

"400 years is more than enough time for a person to change." Her whisper was carried to Archer by the wind. Before he could say anything, she was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rin was almost out the gate of the school when she felt Archer's presence come behind her.

"_Archer, where have you been?"_ She asked through their mental bond. She had tried contacting him when she first felt him leave, but he had not responded.

"_I was out getting some fresh air. Your classroom is really boring, you know that?" _He replied back.

_Whatever. We're going home and you had better make some good tea! Tonight we'll go investigate the Servant who's taking all the spiritual energy around Shinto." _Rin briefed Archer.

He was only half listening though, as they walked on. His mind was preoccupied by the last comment he heard from Saber.

'400 years…just what happened after I died?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Saber followed Shirou around as he continued to do some chores around the school. After a few hours, the sun was setting and Shirou was getting done with the last chore just outside the archery building.

"_Are you finished?" _Saber asked through their bond and Shirou jumped up from where he was.

"What was that?!" Shirou almost screamed and Saber allowed herself to put shake her head in the palm of her hand.

"_Don't be so loud! I'm talking to you through our mental bond. It is more convenient since it saves the trouble of looking like an idiot when you talk to me when I'm not visible." _Saber explained. _"To talk, focus on the image of me and talk through your thoughts."_

"_Like this?" _Shirou's voice echoed through her mind.

"_Yes, just like that."_ Saber was pleased that he didn't scream his thoughts like a child might have. _"Now then, it's quite late and we need to-"_

Saber's sense alerted her and she jumped in front of Shirou, rematerializing in full armor in time to block the spike that had been aimed at Shirou's head.

"Saber!" Shirou exclaimed as she appeared in front of him.

The spike was knocked to the ground and only then did Saber notice the chain attached to it.It lead into the trees and Saber had to look up.

There, standing on one of the tree branches, a Servant stood. She had long light purple hair that went below her knee. Her outfit was a tight black piece that only went down to her upper thighs. A mask adorned her face, hiding her eyes.

From high above, the Servant Rider struck.

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Reviews make me happy and any input makes me a better writer.

Ok, so writer's block sucks.

A lot.

Took a long while (a week is too long in my book!) but I finally got this one out. It seems that interactions are my weak point.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.

And I'm thinking of adding an Omake next chapter…

Signed,

The Self Proclaimed Death God Child


	6. Under the Full Moon

I'm going to say this right now. My inspiration for this fic is dying.

Fast.

I know how it ends, but building up to it is taking soooo much time that it is frustrating me. My brain hurts just trying to smooth out details.

So yeah, just a warning to my readers: My updates on this will start to slow down a whole lot. I hope that you'll be patient with me.

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Saber chased after Rider into the small forest behind the archery building. After her first attack had failed to kill Shirou, Rider had withdrew her dagger and fled to the trees. From there, she would have the cover of the forage to hide in, allowing her to sneak up on her enemy. Her prey wouldn't know what was coming until the last second and by then, it would be too late.

At least, it would be like that if her opponent was normal.

Saber knew that she was giving Rider the advantage by letting her choose the battleground. It wouldn't make a difference though, especially since Saber knew she could handle Rider. Having defeated Rider in her normal form before, Saber knew that in her current state she wouldn't have a problem.

"Are you going to keep running like a coward or are you going to face me like a real warrior?" Saber yelled out as they went deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Well, well, that kind of challenge won't get you far Saber." A melodic voice echoed in the forest and even Saber had a hard time trying to pinpoint the location.

"Before we begin anew, I must ask. Which Servant are you?" Saber yelled back. Though she already knew who it was, Rider didn't know that she knew. It wouldn't be good if Saber called Rider out without Rider telling her first. That would arouse some unwanted questions.

"I guess introductions should be appropriate, since I know you are Saber. I am Rider." The voice responded and still Saber couldn't tell where she was.

"Well then, now that formalities are done, let us continue our fight!" Saber couldn't help but grin as she said this.

The response was immediate. A high pitch whistle was the only indication for the attack that almost hit Saber in the face, had she not used her gauntlet to deflect it. Before the dagger could be pulled back to it's owner, Saber grabbed onto the chain with her free hand and pulled.

A few trees down, Rider tugged harder onto her weapon. She grounded her feet into the branch she was standing on, though she could already feel it start to give. Gritting her teeth, Rider released the chain, jumped downward and charged Saber.

Saber fell back, having lost the force that held the other end of the chain. She only had a few moments before Rider was upon her.

Ducking around, Saber found that Rider was too close for her to use her sword. Add to the fact that her speed was on par with Saber, Rider was able to keep the distance between the two short enough that Saber couldn't swing properly.

Rider didn't waste time and used her close proximity with Saber to do some damage. While she could attack Saber, they only left scratch marks. She couldn't afford to try to pierce through the armor, especially since Rider knew she couldn't at the moment.

The purple haired woman grimaced. Had it not been for her "Master's" lack of magic circuits, then she would be operating at a higher level. Instead, she had been reduced to stealing spiritual energy from innocents. While she didn't particularly care for humans, it did draw unwanted attention to her.

Saber, on the other hand, was getting annoyed. Last time she had no problem with Rider, yet this one seemed to know that a direct hit from Saber could be fatal. She needed to find a way to make space between the two…

A smirk almost made it's way to Saber's face. She moved into another direction so that it seemed like she was falling back and just as she did, Rider jumped upon her.

Like Saber had expected.

Stomping the foot that was farthest back into the ground, Saber forced her momentum into one direction.

Through her head.

Which butted right into Rider's forehead.

**BAM!**

Rider stumbled backwards from the head butt. At the same time, so was Saber. For a few moments, the two Servants wandered around in a slight, comical daze.

'Maybe I should have thought that out.' Saber thought as she shook her head to make the world stop spinning around her. As the world came into focus, Saber saw that Rider was still trying to come out of her own daze.

Saber let loose a battle cry as she charged forward. Tendrils of wind spiraled around Saber's sword as she approached Rider, making the sound of a vacuum.

The sudden noise seemed to have alerted Rider, but by the time she had focused, Saber was upon her.

Rider had barely enough time to bring her daggers into a defensive position when Saber's sword struck. The difference in strength was obvious, as the attack sent Rider through a few trees.

Saber quickly went to the area crashed to. When she arrived, the site that greeted her only served to testify to her power, bringing a twisted grin to Saber's face. Even from where she stood, Saber could tell that Rider was struggling to keep herself standing.

"Time to end this." Saber said and charged forward again.

Rider could barely keep up with Saber's attacks. It was only by her natural dexterity and will to survive that allowed her to dodge the vicious strikes.

But even that wouldn't last long.

Rider leaned back to dodge a sweeping strike aimed for her throat. But her movement was cut short as the back of her head hit a tree.

'Shit.' Rider thought as the tip of Saber's blade made a light cut on her throat. Rider jumped to the side to get away but it was too slow.

Saber made another cleaving strike, and this one hit Rider straight in the middle of her body. The attack knocked Rider to the ground and though she tried to get up, her limbs only ached in protest.

Saber slowly walked to the down form of Rider. She wanted to take her time with this one. Standing behind Rider, Saber grabbed her by her hair and pulled her into a kneeling position, savoring the scream that came from her. Positioning her sword, Saber prepared to take that pretty little head-

She stopped. The sadistic grin that had decorated Saber's face disappeared almost immediately. She let go of Rider's hair, ignoring the 'oof' that came when she fell forward. Saber brought her clawed hand to her face, only idly noting that it was shaking.

'Just-just what was that?!' Saber thought as she realized what was happening. She didn't even notice the difference until the last second, but something had happened to her during the battle. Sometime during it, she began to…enjoy the idea of killing Rider. At that moment before she almost decapitated Rider, Saber felt as if she wanted to revel in the action she was about to take. Just like…just like…

Just like when she had been under the control of the Shadow.

Her whole body shaking now, Saber slowly backed away from Rider. After getting a short distance away, she turns around and starts running. To her Master? Maybe. Hopefully. All she knew was that she had to leave.

Before the Shadow within her could act up again.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Shirou finally caught up with Saber, he was out of breath. It was still remarkable to Shirou how Servants could achieve such feats that normal humans couldn't do and not appear tired. With his hands on his knees, Shirou tried to catch his breath as Saber moved towards him.

"Hey, where did that Servant go?" Shirou asked after his moment of getting air back into his lungs. He was ignored, however, as Saber moved past him.

"Saber? What's going on?" Shirou asked. Saber, however, just kept walking away.

Shirou ran up to Saber and grabbed her by her shoulders. That stopped her, but now she just stood still like a statue.

Shirou went around and tried to look at her. She was stiff and her head was looking down, which made it impossible for Shirou to see her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Shirou asked again. Though he only knew her for a few days, her behavior right now made red flags wave in his head. Saber didn't seem the type to ignore a person talking to her. Plus, she took the whole Master/Servant thing seriously.

After a few moments of tense silence, Saber finally looked up. Shirou flinched at the site that greeted him.

At first glance, Saber's face was its usual blank self. But since Shirou was so close to her, he could see some differences. Her yellow eyes seemed…dull. Before, they were just hard like a warrior's eyes. But now they seemed so lifeless. As if nothing was behind them anymore and the body was moving on it's own. It scared Shirou how this powerful and cold person can seem so dead.

Shirou squeezed Saber's shoulders and only then did her eyes seem to focus. She looked around a little before finally stopping on Shirou's own eyes.

"…Master?" Saber inquired. And just like that, she returned to her usual indifferent self.

"What happened? I finally caught up to you and you were just wandering around aimlessly. You didn't respond when I was calling you." Shirou said to Saber.

"…I find that unlikely, Master. I do not do things such as wander around." Saber huffed. Shirou resisted the urge to sigh. Of course someone with Saber's level of dignity would not admit to wandering around, though it may be true.

"Anyway, what happened to that Servant?" Shirou asked, letting the subject drop.

"She got away." Saber simply said, though for some odd reason Shirou thought something was…off. It felt like Saber was holding something back.

'Unlikely. Saber wouldn't do such a thing as hold back information.' Shirou reassured himself.

"Well, alright then. Let's head home." Shirou said.

And with that, Master and Servant left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun had long set when Saber and Shirou returned to their home. With the day done, all Shirou wanted to do was rest for what remained of the evening, no stress attached.

Imagine Shirou's surprise when he walked into his living room and found Tohsaka and Archer there.

"Tohsaka!" Shirou exclaimed when he walked in and found Rin drinking tea at his table.

"Maa, you need to get yourself some better tea Shirou." Rin said before taking another drink from her tea cup.

"Wha-what are you doing here?!" Shirou exclaimed. Though he was thankful to the school idol/mage for dragging his body back to his house the other night, he was wary of her. Especially today, when she kept giving off a hostile aura at school.

"Well, Archer and I were on our way home when we felt a burst of mana come from the school. We figured that you were still there and that you somehow got yourself attacked by a Servant." Rin explained. "We tried to hurry back, but then all activity from the area we sensed had the battle seemed to vanish. It was quite quick actually. And by the looks of it, Saber came out as the clear winner." She observed, peering at Saber thoughtfully.

"The other Servant, who is Rider, got away before I could finish her. She is wounded though." Saber said. "So she shouldn't be a threat anytime soon."

"Still." Shirou said after Saber finished. "It doesn't explain what you are doing here Tohsaka."

Rin sighed and put down her tea. "I didn't tell you this before, but there is another Master at the school besides you and me. I've been trying to track him for a while now but he's been slippery."

"Another Master at school? Then that means…" Shirou began.

"That the Servant that attacked you was most likely the Servant of the Master at school." Rin finished for him. "At least I know you could use your brain." She muttered.

"Hey!" Shirou said indignantly.

"It gets worse." Rin continued, ignoring Shirou's outburst. "The Master at the school has set up a boundary field around it. With it, he could suck the spiritual energy out of everyone in the field to fuel his Servant."

"What happens when people lose their spiritual energy?" Shirou asked curiously.

"Jeez, don't you know anything? Spiritual energy is the source of magical power. Everyone in the world has it, though some have enough to become magicians." Rin lectured. "Spiritual energy is as much part of everyone's life as their blood is. If people are stripped of their spiritual energy…" She paused and looked at Shirou expectantly.

"Then they die?" Shirou finished quietly. He was silent after that. This…was all new to him.

"We have to stop him." He finally said.

"I agree. I'll be damned if I let some punk ruin my school. I worked hard to create the image I had there!" Rin huffed. "Anyway, I came here to tell you more than that. Since this is a threat to us both, I suggest that we have a ceasefire and work together, at least until we get rid of the Master at school."

"Wait, what do you mean by ceasefire? We weren't attacking each other to begin with." Shirou said and Rin snorted at that. "What?"

"You idiot, of course we are enemies! Had you left your Servant at school today, I would have attacked you while you were going about the school doing those chores. But since you were smart enough to bring her with you, I decided to leave you alone." Rin explained, taking another sip of the tea in order to calm herself of the irritation that had built up.

Shirou, for his part, couldn't believe it. The thought of Tohsaka attacking him…just didn't seem possible with him.

"Shirou, I have to agree with Rin on this." Saber, who up until now was silent, said. "Though handling the Servant is no problem, there is the fact that we can't track her Master. If what Rin is saying is true, then we might not have a lot of time left. We will need all the help we can get in order to stop this boundary field from activating."

Shirou looked at Saber in surprise while Rin just gave her a calculating look. Of any of the two she expected to reject the alliance, Rin had suspected Saber to. But to agree with it? Though Rin interacted little with Saber, she could tell that her mannerisms were those of a noble…or a knight. And usually, knights are too prideful to make alliances.

So, while Saber's acceptance of the alliance made things a lot easier, Rin couldn't help but think…

Was there an alternative agenda?

In his own corner, Archer suppressed a smirk from coming to his face. Saber, who was watching Archer out of the corner of her eyes, remained stoic. Saber had to admit though, she did not expect contact between Rin and Shirou in regards to an alliance this soon.

"What do you think Emiya-kun?" Rin asked, breaking the short silence.

"I agree too. If we work together, we can catch this Master and protect the school." Shirou replied back.

Rin smiled at his answer. "Alright then. Tomorrow after school, we'll stay for a few hours. There, we can try to dismantle the boundary field."

"You mean you could do that? How come you haven't destroyed it yet?" Shirou asked, unintentionally getting on Rin's nerve at what she thought was a barb at her skills.

"I've only started to destroy the field yesterday and today. I can't really stay at school too long or else it would be suspicious. Anyway, we-"

"Shirou! Are you making dinner? And who's shoes are these?!" The happy voice of one Taiga came from the entrance.

Without saying anything, Saber got up from her seat and exited the room, followed by Archer. The two traveled to a secluded part of the estate in silence, though only a few short moments after they left did they hear the voice of Taiga screaming "What do you mean Tohsaka is staying here?!"

When Saber finally stopped, Archer raised an eyebrow at the location they stopped at.

Either by a weird coincidence or a twist of fate, Saber stopped on the porch where Shirou had promised his father Kiritsugu that he would become a hero of justice for him. In fact, as Archer looked into the sky, the moon was the same tonight as it was that night so long ago.

A weird twist of fate indeed.

Saber had taken to sitting on the porch, her feet dangling off the edge. She didn't look at Archer as she asked her question, instead just looking straight forward.

"How did you manage to get Rin to make the alliance so quickly?" Saber asked, breaking Archer's thought process. "Only a few hours ago did we discuss this and yet you managed to do it in so little time…how?"

"I admit, I didn't actually have to do much. What Rin said was true, we have been looking for Rider and her Master for a while now. While I know who the Master really is, Rin is too sharp for me to fool. I would have to make it look like I had really discovered who the Master is in order to escape suspicion." Archer first explained, walking to stand in a spot next to Saber and looking up at the sky as he talked.

"When Rin voiced her opinion that Emiya Shirou was attacked and that it was most likely the Servant of the Master at school, I only had to remind her that since both she and Shirou go to the same school, working together would be a good for them both."

Out of the corner of his eye, Archer saw Saber nod in response. In truth though, Rin had done a whole lot of swearing at Archer for even suggesting an alliance. She was adamant at being against it until Archer managed to calm her down and explained why working with him would be beneficial to her.

It didn't help that Archer had mentioned it would give her a chance to study the mystery that was Saber. But such details were best left unsaid.

Silence reigned between the two as the night went on. Saber, who in her time had lived in a dead world, was used to the silence, no matter how much she detested it. Archer though, could only take so much. Though he could never describe himself as talkative, Archer found the lasting silence a little bit overwhelming.

"Saber." He addressed and from the corner of his eye he saw her turn her head toward him. "I know it pains you, but I must ask. What happened after I died?" At the question, he turned his head and met her eyes.

Her eyes dulled a little at his question, but they quickly returned to their usual blank stare. Archer caught the sight though and he filed it in the back of his mind. She remained silent for a few moments and Archer didn't ask again.

And then she started talking. From what happened in her point of view after their last battle, he learned. How Shirou had finally abandoned his dream to become a hero of justice. How, in a one on one duel, he had managed to cripple her, only to lose his mind before he could finish her off. How Rin had failed to stop Sakura.

And how the world ended.

She just kept talking and all Archer did was watch and listen. And with his knowledge of Saber, Archer watched as the King of Knights remained stoic on the outside as she told her story….

…but cried in the inside.

Archer was shocked by the events that took place after his death. Saber described how after the first 200 years, she started to regain an inkling of who she was. How within the next 200 years before her death, Saber slowly became truly conscious of what she had done. Truly aware of the horrors she had helped bring.

On her part, Saber left out the personal details about her interaction with Sakura. She told him how the real Sakura had begun to fight the Shadow as well. How, after 400 years, she was able to regain control of her body.

And how she managed to make Saber kill her.

At the end of it, Archer was as silent as ever. What could one say? On the inside, a whirlwind of emotions took place. Pride because Emiya Shirou has the capacity to reject the dream of a hero of justice. Hurt because of the fact that Rin and everyone else died. But most of all pity. Though he knew that the spirit of Arturia Pendragon would never want another person to pity her, Archer couldn't help himself.

To spend so much time alone with only one other person…how had she stayed sane?

But then Archer remembered that for most of the time Saber wasn't exactly sane.

A little nudge at the back of his head alerted Archer that Rin was trying to contact him. Grumbling, he opened the link.

"_We just got done. Meet me by the entrance." _Rin's command echoed through his head.

He got up, though Saber didn't make indication that she noticed the movement. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving, but Archer could tell she was just meditating.

"It is time for me to go." Archer simply said. A slight nod was his only answer.

Archer turned to go, but something was nagging him on the inside. It had started after Saber had finished her story, but Archer had just ignored it. Now though, when he was about to leave, the feeling just grew.

Sighing out loud, Archer knew that what he was about to do would surely shatter whatever image of a badass he had.

Turning back to Saber, he walked up so that he was right in front of her. Saber still didn't make any movements.

Until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Opening her eyes, Saber looked up to the figure of the Servant Archer. She had a questioning look in them and found that Archer had a look of deep concentration on his face, as if he was struggling to say something. To others, the sight would have been comical.

But this was Saber, so it was just confusing to her.

"Look." Archer said and Saber tilted her head to one side, reinforcing a rather cute image of her that just continued to throw off Archer's concentration. "Don't worry about what is going to happen. With the two of us, things will turn out better here. I promise." He gave her a comforting smile, an image that Saber hadn't seen before…or at least she thinks so.

"Archer…" Saber whispered but before she could say anymore he turned and walked away.

"I have to go now. Rin is getting quite irritated." Archer said without looking back. He leapt over the wall, dematerializing as he did.

Saber just sat there, but if one looked at her, they'd see a soft smile grow on her face. She looked up and stared at the full moon that illuminated the night.

"Yes…we will." She whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day was uneventful in Saber's opinion. She just followed Shirou around for the school day, though she left when he went and talked to Sakura. After the school day ended though, she, Shirou, Rin, and Archer stayed behind to help take care of the boundary field. Thanks to Shirou's odd senses, they were able to destroy more spell marks then Rin had predicted.

When Rin called it a day, she was in a more pleasant mood. The progress they made with dismantling the boundary field had really raised Rin's and Shirou's spirits.

"Well then, we'll continue on with this tomorrow. If this keeps up, Rider's Master will surely reveal himself to try to deal with us. By then, we'll be ready." Rin said as they prepared to part ways at the school gate.

"Alright then, see you tomorrow." Shirou said and they left.

When they were quite a few blocks away from the school, Saber spoke up.

"Shirou, we should patrol the city for a while." Saber proposed. She was visible in her gothic dress. When Shirou asked why she wasn't in her spirit form, she had answered that she preferred it this way.

"We talked about this before Saber. I don't want to go looking for fights." Shirou replied with a sigh. This topic was one that Saber had been bringing up for a while.

"You know what's been going on in the city Shirou. Those gas leaks that were mentioned are attacks." Saber answered. "At least once around the city. Afterwards we can go home."

"Fine." Shirou said. "But only once."

They traveled around the city, though things passed rather uneventfully. The only thing that was noteworthy to Shirou was the fact that every so often Saber would gaze in some direction for a long while. When Shirou asked what that was about, Saber said it was nothing.

When they had finished sweeping over the city, they made their way home. A few blocks away from Shirou's estate though, Shirou's hand began to burn.

"Wha-" Shirou started.

"_A Servant is near."_ Saber's voice echoed through his head. _"Whoever it is, he or she is just watching us."_

"_What should we do?" _Shirou asked, a little nervous that they actually attracted the attention of a Servant.

"_Act normal. Just keep walking to the house. If they plan to strike, it will be soon, but we need to pick the battlefield. And fast." _Saber instructed.

Nodding his head, Shirou continued on home. When they reached the intersection where the road split to where Sakura lived, they found someone waiting there.

At a far distance, they couldn't make out who it was, though Shirou was able to tell that it was a person around his height. He couldn't help but sigh in relief. At least it wasn't Illya and Berserker that was waiting for them.

But as they got closer, Shirou found that he recognized the person.

"Shinji?!" Shirou exclaimed when he realized who it was.

"Good evening Emiya." Shinji said, his trademark smirk visible in the moonlight. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"Shinji, what are you doing here?" Shirou asked, hoping that Shinji's presence here didn't mean what he thought it meant.

A sharp whistle reached Shirou's ear and like last time, Saber returned to the world just in time to block the attack.

Shirou, who was still looking forward, only gasped when the form of Rider materialized behind Shinji.

"Shinji, you're a Master?!" Shirou asked as Rider stepped in front of Shinji.

"Yes I am Emiya." Shinji confirmed. "I was hoping to work together with you, but what you did today has forced back my plans." A malicious scowl crossed Shinji's face. "You have deprived my Servant of the energy she needs, a fact I can't let slip."

"So it is you who is responsible for the field around the school!" Shirou said. "Why are you doing this? You were going to hurt innocent people if that field became active!"

"It doesn't matter to me." Shinji said in return. "The amount of people at the school is more than enough to empower my Servant. I can't just let such an opportunity be wasted."

"But enough of this. Rider, attack!"

As soon as the command left Shinji's lips, Rider sprung forward. Saber charged forward to meet the challenge. As they met in the center of the street, Saber noted that Rider was moving as she did when they had first fought before.

'So her wounds have recovered. Good, at least this won't be too busy.' She thought as she swung downward.

Her blade was intercepted by Rider's twin daggers. Saber pushed forward, noting with a smirk that Rider seemed to be struggling to hold her back.

With a roar, Saber used her mana to increase her strength. The unexpected burst of strength allowed her to complete the swing, even while in a deadlock. The force sent Rider skidding back. Before the skid went too far though, Rider jumped forward.

Saber, who was following up on her swing, didn't expect this move. She barely had time to move her head to her right before one of Rider's daggers came down and slammed into the place where the top of her head was, instead hitting where her collar bone was, almost piercing the armor.

Saber grunted and tried to backhand Rider, but she had already jumped away. Rolling her shoulder, Saber worked out the pain that sprung from her collar bone. Growling a little, Saber charged forward again.

But before she went a few feet forward, she had to dodge to the side as one of the daggers flew past her head. Saber didn't have time to charge as the second dagger flew by, cutting her on the cheek as she dodged.

Saber went forward, this time jumping high to avoid the dagger throw. Rider looked up, easily spotting Saber's form. While in the air, Saber wouldn't be able to move. Smirking, Rider let loose her daggers.

They both hit, but not where she had intended. Saber had adjusted her body in midair, making sure that the daggers didn't pierce her heart and head. Instead, one was buried in Saber's stomach and the other in her shoulder.

Saber ignored the pain. She had dealt with worse before. Falling quickly on the surprised form of Rider, Saber twirled her sword in circles, dark tendrils of wind encompassing it.

Rider couldn't move. Maybe it was because of the fact that she was too surprised that Saber took both daggers to her being. Or maybe because the energy coming off from Saber's weapon rooted her.

Or maybe it was the purely malicious face Saber had. Never before had Rider seen such…hatred. It radiated off of Saber like a roaring fire. Even Shirou and Shinji, who were a good distance away, shivered at the feeling. For the first time since she faced Perseus, Rider felt fear.

**BOOM!**

The sound rang as Saber crashed downward. Debris flew all over the place and a cloud of dust and dirt covered the view.

Coughing, Shirou tried to see through the sudden fog. Eyes straining, Shirou searched for Saber.

"Saber!" Shirou yelled, trying find her. No response. After a while, the fog faded away and Shirou saw her.

She was standing in a small crater, standing upright. From his angle, Shirou could see the two daggers that pierced her armor. He watched, awed and a little unnerved as Saber pulled the daggers out, not seemingly bothered by the squishy noise they made as they left her flesh.

Sudden coughing caught Shirou's attention and he looked for the source. When he found it, he couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

A good distance away from the crater, Rider lay on the floor, shuddering as another coughing fit brought more blood out. At the last possible second, Rider had been able to move away. But she still seemed to have taken a good portion of the force, as her body was testimony to this fact. Deep cuts adorned her body, ranging from short to long. Some of her clothes were cut as well. Overall, Rider wasn't in good shape. She struggled to get up, but only fell back down.

"Get up!" Shinji yelled. When she didn't, Shinji stomped toward her and kicked her in the side. "I said get up, damn you!"

"Shinji, stop that!" Shirou yelled but was ignored.

Shinji raised his foot to kick Rider again, but then something metallic suddenly slammed into his face, sending him back. When he looked up, the form of Saber loomed over Rider, her face in an angry scowl.

"Do not do that again." She said to him, retracting her gauntlet fist. She looked down at the form of Rider, who was taking deep breaths as she tried to stay conscious. Saber sighed. She had managed to regain control of herself before her empowered sword hit. With the little time she had, Saber retracted as much mana as she could. Had the sword hit when she had been in her Shadow state of mind, the force behind it would have leveled the surrounding buildings.

Saber was just glad that she managed to regain control.

Looking down on Rider, Saber decided to just end her suffering. It may have been better for Rider to not move, or else she wouldn't be suffering right now.

But before she could carry out the action, Saber was forced to jump away. The spot where she was in was suddenly bathed in fiery light. Looking up, Saber found the source of the spell intended for her.

Standing beside Shinji, the form of an old man stood. He was very short, and very old. It looked like he could drop dead at any time. In the light of the moon, Saber recognized the form of Matou Zouken.

"Grandpa…" Shinji whispered, only to be interrupted.

"Be silent Shinji. I must say, I am utterly disappointed in your performance here today. Not only have you failed as a Master, but as a magician as well!" The old man said, his voice hoarse with old age.

"But-" Shinji tried to defend himself but was interrupted once again.

"Enough! I should have expected this from you. Weak, pathetic, as usual." Zouken sneered.

Shinji remained silent after that. Zouken barked some sort of spell, and suddenly Shinji and Rider glowed before disappearing before Shirou's and Saber's eyes.

Throughout the whole entire exchange, Saber observed Zouken. She had not interacted with him during her second life, though she knew what he did to Sakura.

Everything the old man did to Sakura.

As much as Saber wanted to eviscerate the old man, she knew the action would be meaningless. He would just survive on his worms. No, Saber knew that she had to find another way to utterly destroy him.

After Shinji and his Servant disappeared, Zouken took to observing the Servant before him. He had watched the entire fight. At first, he thought she was Berserker, especially with the amount of power she gave off. But when her Master called her, Zouken was surprised to find that she was the Saber of this war.

But when Zouken looked back, he recalled the power she gave off. It felt…like the Grail's. For this Servant to have power similar to it…

Zouken noticed that the Servant Saber regarded him in the same he did. Barking another spell, Zouken disappeared as well, but not before another thought crossed his mind.

'Why does she look familiar?' He thought.

As the old man disappeared, Saber let out a sigh. She had not noticed the old man's presence during the fight. If he somehow saw Saber for what she truly was, then things would just become more complicated.

She was surrounded by a soft glow, and then Saber's armor disappeared, replaced with her gothic dress. She heard Shirou walk behind her.

"Let's go home." She simply said and walked off.

Shirou sighed out loud. Why did he have to have such a complicated person as his Servant?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They arrived home in silence. It was still somewhat early in the night, but already Shirou felt like going to bed.

Saber walked beside him, not saying a word after the battle. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, Shirou noted.

And that was how it was. Saber was going over the events that happened just a few short minutes ago. It had gone like it had last time. Though Saber wanted to finish Rider, she noted what had happened later on. Rider would eventually find herself as Sakura's Servant, as it should be. In fact, Rider's presence would serve to help Sakura.

"Sakura!" Shirou's voice brought Saber out of her thoughts. She looked up and almost regretted it.

The sight that greeted her was one of awkwardness. Shirou had opened the doorway, only to find Sakura there, putting on her shoes. Saber was panicking. She shouldn't be here! She should have left already.

But here she was, looking between Shirou and Saber. A look of sadness seemed to cross her.

"Sempai…" She whispered as she laid her eyes on Saber.

Rin came into the hallway, and spotted what was going on. With her enhanced hearing, Saber heard what she said.

"Well, shit."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bum Bum Buuuuummm

Finally, the confrontation!

Wow, this one turned out to be quite long. I hope you guys enjoy it, seeing as it took sooo long.

Anyway, as I've said before, updates will start to come slowly, and will practically cease come late August.

Until we meet again,

The Self-Proclaimed Death God Child


	7. Holding You

Hey all, I know it's been a while.

To be honest, this one was easier to plan out, but harder to carry out.

Hopefully, you'll see what I mean =/

WARNING: Some part of this borderlines M rating.

Not too sure if I want to go that route yet….

Also, I was listening to 'Broken' by Seether and Amy Lee, so I reckon you should do the same to get the mood/theme of this chapter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An awkward silence filled the air as Shirou, Saber, and Sakura just stood there, looking at each other nervously. Even Saber's stoic mask was gone. For the first time ever, she actually looked nervous.

Saber didn't know what to do. Because she was behind Shirou, none of the others had a good view of her. This was good, as she was shaking like a leaf.

In her heart, she was overjoyed to see Sakura but at the same time, her memory of Sakura smiling face as she died kept overlapping with the Sakura in front of her. Saber's mind was in a state of chaos, and that's putting it lightly.

Her memories of her time with Sakura kept whirling around in Saber's head. Watching Sakura dance, lying still as she beat her, crying with her when she regained her body, holding her as she slept and not knowing if the next day it will be Sakura or the Shadow in her arms.

While these memories kept resurfacing, Shirou took the chance to break the silence.

"Sakura, what are you doing here so late?" Shirou asked, unaware that his Servant was on the verge of a mental breakdown behind him.

Sakura drew her attention to Shirou. "What are you talking about Sempai? It isn't that late." She said, her voice still low. "…Sempai?" She asked in a questioning tone.

"Yes?" Shirou answered nervously. He wanted to introduce Saber to the others before, but right now he couldn't help but feel nervous.

Then again, catching someone you know dearly in the act of coming home with a girl you've never seen before would probably send some negative thoughts through a person's mind. Shirou only hoped that Sakura wasn't thinking like that.

"Who's this?" Sakura asked, her voice taking on a slightly hard tone. Shirou flinched a little. Never before had he seen Sakura like this. Something in the back of his head warned him to tread lightly, and Shirou was glad to agree.

He moved out of the way so that Sakura could get a full view of Saber. "Sakura, this is Saber. She was an old friend of my father who just recently came to visit." Shirou said, the story about Saber flowing out smoothly after days of rehearsing. It wouldn't do well if he had stuttered. "I've been showing her around the city, that's why I wasn't home till now." He quickly made up.

"Oh…" Sakura said as she observed Saber. As she did though, she and everyone else saw that her head was bowed and her hands were together in front of her. Shirou and Rin, who was still silent, watched Saber in shock and interest, respectively. Saber's behavior right now was unusual, to say the least. The normally cold and indifferent Servant looked…submissive right now.

Sakura, however, took the look as if Saber was shy. "Hi there, my name is Matou Sakura." Sakura and the others waited for Saber to respond. Then, Saber lifted her head and Shirou and Rin had to stop themselves from gasping.

"Good evening Sakura-san. It's very nice to meet you." A somewhat light voice reached their ears. But what shook Shirou and Rin was the look Saber had on her face. Her amber eyes weren't cold, though they weren't warm. A soft smile graced her lips, instead of the ever present frown.

Saber looked absolutely…not creepy.

Saber stuck her hand out and Sakura reached out and shook it, returning the somewhat infectious smile Saber had. When they touched though, Sakura felt something stir. It was like a soft tingling feeling ran through her body.

'What was that?' She thought, but brushed it off. "It's very nice to meet you too Saber-chan." She responded. When she first saw Saber, she had felt a moment of anger go through her. But now, Saber's happy greeting dulled it.

"Are you the same Sakura that has been taking care of Shirou?" Saber asked, her smile never leaving.

"Umm" Sakura blushed a little. Whenever Taiga commented on her taking care of Shirou, it usually took her mentioning that Sakura would be the perfect wife in order to get her to blush. Somehow this stranger had managed to do it with one question! "Yes, I've been helping sempai." She admitted.

"I have to thank you for that." Saber said. "It's nice to know that Shirou has such good, loving friend." And this time, both Shirou and Sakura blushed, though for different reasons.

'Wha-what is she going on about?!' Shirou thought.

'Loving? She thinks I'm loving?' Sakura thought.

"Oh, look at the time." Rin said, speaking up for the first time. "You should head on home Sakura! Don't want to be out too late. Especially with all those gas leaks and attacks happening."

"Rin!" Saber scolded. "Don't scare her. It's not very nice." Her expression softened a little and she sighed. "Though she is right. The night has started to become dangerous. Maybe you should go home Sakura-san."

"Well…I guess you're right." Sakura admitted. "I'll see you tomorrow Rin-sempai, Saber-chan, Sempai." She said, giving a short bow before leaving.

When Shirou felt Sakura leave the boundary field, he turned to Saber. "What was that all about? I've never seen you like that before." Shirou asked.

"I have to admit, I'm curious as well." Rin said, leaning on the doorway as she watched Shirou and Saber take off their shoes.

"When dealing with someone outside the war, it wouldn't do well to act so suspiciously." Saber answered, moving to the living room. Her voice was still a little light, but had begun to revert to her cold tone. "My normal mannerisms might have given Sakura reason to suspect something. Also, I do not wish to drive her away."

Rin let out an unlady-like snort. "Really? That's odd, seeing as for all the times Sakura was here, you seem to always disappear immediately." Rin commented.

Saber glared at her and Rin stopped. A slight shiver went up her spine at the look and she had the sudden urge to back away.

"I avoided her for the sole reason of trying to not involve innocents in this war." Saber said, still glaring at Rin. Of course, it was half the truth, but they didn't need to know that. "It wouldn't do well if Sakura became a target just to get to us."

"Don't you mean get to Shirou?" Rin said and Saber cursed mentally. Rin was too sharp for Saber's liking.

"Yes, that's what I meant." Saber grounded out.

"I have to say." Shirou said, trying to interrupt what could have become an argument. "It's nice to know that you're willing to be nice to Sakura."

Saber didn't respond. Instead, she turned away. Although Shirou could have sworn he saw a smile for a moment.

They made it to the living room. Saber and Rin took to sitting at the table while Shirou looked for the food.

"Leftovers are in the fridge Shirou." Rin said before turning back to Saber. "Still…the way you were acting…if I didn't know any better, it was like you were actually happy."

Saber didn't say anything. She turned away from Rin, opting to just watch the TV, which was actually still on.

"That's enough now." Shirou said as he came to the table with food for him and Saber. He silently agreed with Rin though. The way Saber talked to Sakura wasn't anything like how she talked to Shirou. With him, she was polite and cold, though she sometimes seemed sad whenever Shirou would look at her when he thought she wasn't looking.

With Sakura though…Saber actually looked happy. Though he questioned why this was, Shirou was just glad that Saber looked happy.

Shirou and Saber ate dinner in silence, though Saber finished up quite quickly. Rin, having nothing else to do, went back to her room. Saber's senses told her that Archer was on lookout as well.

After finishing dinner, they cleaned up and went to bed. When Shirou left to go shower, Saber went outside.

Under the light of the full moon, Saber let out the sob that had built itself up. For minutes, all Saber did was hold her face in her hands, trying to muffle her crying from reaching the others. Her heart felt constricted in her chest and she fell to her knees, trying to push back the torrent that was freely leaving her.

Her body shook, even more so when she first saw Sakura. Saber tried again to rein herself in, but failed. Why? Why couldn't she control herself when it came to Sakura? Why is it that she could never stop the image of that sad girl from surfacing in her mind?

Unknown to Saber, someone was watching her. But instead of going to help her, Archer thought it best to let her get it all out on her own. He knew that this moment was something Saber didn't want anyone to intrude on.

Moving to another part of the complex, Archer looked to the sky. In the distance, storm clouds came in.

"Looks like we're getting rain tonight." Archer muttered before moving on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Far away, candle lights barely illuminated a dark room. The candles were in a circle, so the still figure inside the circle was only thing not cast in shadows.

At the edge of the circle, Zouken chanted his spell. Power crackled in the room, pulling inward toward the circle. The candles became purple lights, and the floor surrounding the figure glowed in a elaborate seal.

Zouken continued to chant, his voice becoming louder. As his voice built up, so did the magic within the room. Soon, sparks of purple light came to life and the air was fizzled.

With a final bark, Zouken completed the spell. For a few moments, the room was bathed in a fluorescent purple glow. After it died down, the candles became the only light in the room again.

Slowly, the figure in the circle stirred. Moving her limbs to get the kinks out of her muscles, the Servant Rider returned to the world of the living.

"How do you feel?" Zouken asked. Though the ritual took a lot of power, Zouken didn't seem tired at all.

Rider turned to the old man. "I am ready to battle once again." She said in reply, bowing her head to the magician.

He only nodded and waved his hand in a dismissing fashion. Though he wasn't her Master, Rider respected him enough to just go along with the dismissal. More so now when he saved her life.

Turning to leave, Rider took a chance to look at the occupant of the room besides her and Zouken. If her eyes were visible, they would have been in a hard glare. Though she obeyed her "Master", it was only because of the rights he had as a Master. In all reality, Rider hated the one she had to call Master.

Shinji didn't say anything after Rider had left. When Zouken had finally returned, he had instructed Shinji to help prepare the ritual. Other than those instructions, he had not said anything else to him.

Shinji moved to leave as well, but Zouken stopped him. "Stay." He just said.

Shinji just stood there and waited. He knew what was coming and he just wanted to get over with it.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Your failure today was the worst thing you have done." Zouken said, not even turning to face Shinji. "Not only did you fail in powering up your Servant because of your lack of magic circuits, you failed to deal with the ones who had a hand in undermining your efforts. Because of you, I've had to use precious magic in order to save Rider." He continued to berate Shinji.

"This will be your last chance. Do not embarrass the Matou family again. Like your father did." Zouken said, though he added the last part in a mutter. Still, Shinji had heard it, and he tried to keep himself from shaking in anger.

"Now leave." Zouken said. With the clear dismissal, Shinji made to leave the room.

When he was about to close the door behind him though, he heard Zouken mutter one last thing. "Maybe Sakura should have stayed the Master."

Without making indication that he had heard, Shinji closed the door and left.

Shinji walked to his room in a foul mood. Anger boiled deep inside of him. Anger at Zouken for bringing up his father. Anger at his Servant for failing him.

But most of the anger stemmed from that last comment he wasn't meant to hear. How dare he think Sakura would have made a better Master! The little slut wouldn't do anything productive in the war!

Shinji finally made it to his room and began pacing. He couldn't concentrate with all the hate that was going through him.

The sound of thunder made him pause. Looking outside, Shinji was surprised to find storm clouds brewing nearby. He was about to turn away when something caught his eye.

There, walking toward the front door, was Sakura. Shinji felt another spike in his anger and he grinned maliciously. Time for some stress relief.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura hurried inside as soon as she heard the thunder. She didn't even notice the clouds hovering ominously over the Matou house until the sound cracked right above her. She had just closed the door when the sound of raindrops started to pound on the roof.

There were no lights on. Sakura didn't mind though, as she knew her home like the back of her hand. She was going through the main hallway when lightning struck overhead, the light from it illuminating the room through the windows.

Sakura shivered involuntarily. For some odd reason, the house seemed more….scary than usual. She did her best to brush it aside and went to her room.

As she walked, Sakura felt something brush against her senses. Before she knew it, she was swaying on her feet, suddenly feeling dizzy. She grabbed onto a nearby piece of furniture to try to regain her balance. As she held on, her vision dimmed and the room seemed to move in and out of focus. She closed her eyes to try to concentrate and block out the headache, but it did little.

Then, it was gone. All of a sudden, the headache seeped away. Sakura opened her eyes and was glad to find the room in full focus. She took a moment to ponder what had caused the headache. She scrunched her face a little to concentrate, but found that nothing she did earlier today could have warranted the sudden dizzy episode.

"I must be tired." Sakura concluded before continuing on to her room. When she finally made it, the storm had picked up and Sakura could swear that it sounded like the worst of it was directly over the house.

Sakura dropped her stuff in the usual place and went to the mirror. It wasn't extravagant, compared to everything else in the house, but Sakura liked it for it's simplicity.

Though not one to be vain, Sakura still tended to herself like any normal girl. She was giving herself a look over when she saw something in the corner of the mirror's reflection. Startled, Sakura quickly turned around to look.

And found nothing. It was still dark, and Sakura wondered what had compelled her to not turn on the lights in her room. As she looked around though, she found that everything was in its proper place. She shivered at the image she thought she saw in her mirror.

For a second, she thought she saw a person with long silver hair and red eyes filled with scalding wrath.

Sakura turned back to the mirror and began tending her hair. She let her mind wander though, mostly because she has gone over this routine for years now.

The topic for her idle thinking turned to Shirou, as it usually did. Sakura sighed dreamily. Though she was forced to live here, she could never call this place a home. But whenever she was with Shirou, things were different.

Things were…normal.

With Shirou, she didn't have to think about her life here. She didn't have to be reminded that her brother hated her. That she was only kept here as an old man's experiment. With Shirou, she could look at herself as more than just a puppet.

With Shirou, she could live her dream of being in a loving, albeit a bit misfit, family.

'Loving…' That word sparked another train of thought.

The new girl Saber appeared in Sakura's mind. For some odd reason, when she had started talking, Sakura found herself paying close attention to her. At first, Sakura didn't like her because she was living with Shirou. But that feeling faded away quickly and Sakura found that she wanted to listen to Saber.

As if something drew her to the girl…

Suddenly, the headache was back. Sakura pushed her arms forward and leaned on the wall to prevent herself from falling. Her vision became hazy and a throbbing sensation slammed against her mind like a drum.

Through the pain though, she heard something. It sounded far away….like an echo. Sakura strained to try to hear it, but the pain kept her disoriented. But still she struggled to find the voice. Sakura didn't know why, but she just had to listen to it. It called to her.

If she wasn't struggling so hard, Sakura would have noticed that the voice had the same feeling that Saber gave off.

Much to Sakura's relief and disappointment, however, the voice and the headache faded away. She stopped swaying and her head cleared a little. She opened her eyes to find the world back in focus.

Only to see that someone was in the mirror besides her.

Spinning around again, Sakura only made it half way before she was grabbed around her waist and thrown across the room. Landing with a yelp, Sakura looked up to see her attacker.

It was Shinji.

But there were differences. Through the haze, Sakura could barely make out that Shinji had his fists gripped and that a nasty scowl was on his face. All and all, he looked really angry.

And Sakura knew what he does when he's this angry.

She desperately tried to crawl away. But the dizzy spell from before had also robbed her of her coordination. Without much effort, Shinji strolled over to her, picked her up again, and tossed her across the room. This time onto the bed.

Sakura whimpered and put her arms in front of her defensively. This proved futile though, as Shinji knocked them away.

Sakura knew that there was no way for her to escape. As the haze lifted all the way, she did the only thing she could. She tried to block it all out, as she did before.

A slap echoed across the room and Sakura's cheek stung. Much to her dismay, everything was brought back into focus.

"Not this time." Shinji growled out. "I want you to feel it this."

With that, he started ripping off her clothes and Sakura couldn't do anything to help herself.

All she could do was cry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Emiya estate, the world was asleep, save one. Saber had taken her turn on keeping watch for the night some few hours ago. At first, Archer had protested, mostly because he felt that Saber should rest, considering her earlier encounter.

Of course, Archer didn't tell her that, but had settled for just saying that Saber looked tired. While true, that fact didn't stop Saber from snapping at Archer. It seemed that she thought that Archer was insulting her. While Archer had meant well when he protested, he wasn't really going to go to great lengths in order to make Saber listen. He knew better than to argue with an irate Saber.

So, reluctantly, Archer let Saber take watch. It was about time he caught some sleep anyway.

So now, Saber was sitting in the living room, nursing a warm cup of tea. While she was keeping a lookout, she suddenly felt the need to get warm. Add to the fact that the storm had hit the estate as well, Saber was all too willing to go inside.

As she sat there, Saber turned her thoughts back to Sakura. Though it ached her to even look at the girl, Saber knew that she had to focus. Up until now, she hadn't really done much. Even more to her shame, Saber didn't even have a plan on how to deal with Sakura. As much as she wants to save her, Saber didn't know where to start. She knew very little about how the Shadow works or how integrated into Sakura's body it is. Trying to take it out might actually risk Sakura.

Saber entertained the idea of asking Rin, but quickly rejected the thought. Saber knew that Rin was a magus first before anything. If she knew what Sakura held, Rin might just try to kill her.

But then how to proceed? Other than Rin, there was Zouken, who was the one actually responsible for Sakura's problems. Saber highly doubted that Zouken would do anything though. If anything, if he knew that she knew, the old man might-

A screeching noise filled Saber's head, derailing her train of thought. Saber fell to the side of the table with her head in her hands, trying to shut it out. It hurts! It felt like her head was going to explode. What was going on?! Why-

Then it stopped. As sudden as it came, it left just as fast. For a while, Saber just laid on the floor, her eyes clenched shut. Slowly, she opened her eyes. All she could see was the floor. Shakily, she got up. Nothing in the room was out of place. She expanded her senses to feel the others. They were fine. If this wasn't an attack…what was it?

And then she felt it. Deep in the recesses of her mind, something echoed. Saber stiffened when she realized what it was. It…was impossible! How could it be there still?!

But as Saber focused and grabbed hold of that slippery piece that had long been silent, she knew it was real. In a part of her, resided that which had led to her continued existence in her world.

In a dark, long buried part of her soul, Saber's connection to Sakura pulsed to life.

And it screamed two words.

_**Help me.**_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She walked.

She walked and walked and walked and walked. Because that's all she could do. It hurt to do anything else. Her body was already straining and threatening to collapse as she walked. She just wanted to stop. Let the pain go away. Just give up.

But she had to go on.

She had to leave.

It hurt so much. Oh God did it hurt! He had been brutal with her. He didn't let her rest. He didn't relent. Of all the times he had his way, tonight had been the worse ever. What's worse was that she had to feel every second of it.

And the memory wouldn't leave, no matter how much she tried to block it.

She just had to get away from that place. That place where she was forced to call her home. That place where everything in her life went wrong. That place where she had lost nearly everything.

And so here she was, walking through this forsaken storm. The rain slapped against her relentlessly and the wind chilled her to the bone.

But she had to go on.

At that moment, a particular nasty wind chose that time to blow in the exact way it needed to go in order to knock Sakura unbalanced. With no resistance, Sakura fell in an undignified heap on the sidewalk.

It hurt so much. That was one of many thoughts raging in Sakura's mind. She curled into the fetal position by instinct to gather warmth. But the wind and rain just didn't relent upon her. She fought to remain conscious. But already the edges of her vision blackened, and the rest of her body was feeling numb.

As her body started to fail her, Sakura's thoughts turned in one direction. Her only source of happiness…

'Shirou.' Sakura thought. The image of her red haired crush made its way to the forefront of her mind. Though what she had been through had broken her, the thought of Shirou was enough to spark a moment of happiness in Sakura's heart. With him, she was happy. If there was ever anyone she cared about, it was always him. Though he didn't return her love in the way she dreamt of, his form of affection towards her was more than enough.

It was more than anyone else had given anyway.

As Sakura was lost in her own world, she didn't notice the figure going towards her. Nor did she notice the figure stop right over her. In her scattered mental state, Sakura didn't even register that she was being carried out of the rain by a figure her size.

All she thought about was Shirou.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shirou woke with a start. Since he was more in tune to the boundary wards, he knew when someone entered and exited.

So it was no surprise that he would be awoken by the entrance of two people onto his estate in the middle of the night.

Scrambling up, Shirou quickly got dressed before heading to where the two people were. Strangely enough, the intruders had stopped at that room. When he reached the door, Shirou prepared himself for whatever was on the other side. Taking a deep breath, he quickly opened the door.

The site that greeted him was not one he was expecting.

In the middle of the room, a soaked Saber stood. Not one part of her body wasn't soaked in water. But the thing that caught his attention was the equally soaked and very uncounscious form of Sakura that was cradled in Saber's arms.

"Sakura!" Shirou exclaimed as he took in what he was seeing, rushing over to the pair. He either didn't notice or didn't bother to think about the fact that Saber seemed to be carrying a girl about her same weight and height without much trouble.

Saber silently set Sakura down on the floor, moving her body so that her head was cradled in Saber's lap. Shirou went ahead and checked the girl, first putting his hand on her forehead. He quickly retracted it though.

"She's burning up. Let's take her to the bed. Saber, I need you to go get a wet cloth and a towel for me." Shirou ordered, before taking Sakura up in his arms. Saber only nodded and hurried off.

Shirou moved to the nearest unoccupied room and set Sakura on the bed. He quickly tried to make sure she was comfortable. Now that he was alone with her though, Shirou noticed a few things. For one, though Sakura was soaking wet from the storm, she also seemed to be sweating profoundly. Her face was also unnaturally pale and Shirou thought his eyes were playing tricks, but her hair seemed a little lighter…

The sound of a door opening broke Shirou out of his thoughts and he turned to find Saber walk in with the items he asked, but she also seemed to have more. She moved to the other side of Sakura and placed the wet cloth on the side, along with a bundle of clothes.

"We need to get her out of her wet clothes first." Saber began, her voice laced with concerned as she looked at Shirou. He blushed, but made his way out of the room without saying anything. A few minutes passed and Shirou heard some shuffling in the room. A muffled "Come in." came from the room and Shirou walked back in. Except for Sakura being in dry clothes, the scene hadn't changed.

Without a word, Shirou moved to Sakura's side and took the wet cloth that Saber held out, placing it on her forehead.

"She has a high fever." Shirou concluded, breaking the silence. "Hopefully, it'll pass by tomorrow. She'll still need a lot of rest though."

Saber only nodded, her worried eyes never leaving the form of Sakura. Shirou raised an eyebrow when he found that she was also holding Sakura's hand.

"Saber, what were you doing outside the estate?" Shirou asked.

Saber broke out of her stare and looked at Shirou. "What makes you think I left?" She asked.

"I woke up to feeling two people enter the estate. That means you and Sakura entered the estate at the same time. "Shirou said before his eyebrows furrowed. "How did you find her in this state?"

Saber was silent at the question. It would only raise even more questions if she told Shirou that she somehow has a connection to Sakura. But she knew that keeping Shirou in the dark for too long wouldn't do well either. She needed him to trust her.

And now that trust is being tested.

"I felt something." Saber said. "I don't know what it was, but suddenly I had this compelling urge to go outside. I knew that I should have woken you up, but the feeling kept tugging me."

"That was very dangerous." Shirou said. "What if it was a trap?"

"Had I not listened, then Sakura would be in a worse situation right now." Saber cut him off before he could say anymore. "Yes, I knew it could have been a trap. But now we know it wasn't."

They were silent after that. Shirou knew that Saber was right, that if she hadn't acted then Sakura would have been alone out in the storm. But damn it, he could have lost her if it had been a trap! As he mulled it over though, a question surfaced.

"What happened to her?" Shirou asked.

"I don't know." Saber responded and turned back to Sakura. "I just found myself running outside, and then I suddenly find Sakura on the ground. She was barely conscious when I got to her."

Shirou only nodded. In all honesty, he was still very much tired and didn't feel like asking anymore questions.

"Alright, I'm going to bed now." He said as he got up. "If her condition changes, don't be afraid to wake me up for help."

Saber nodded with a smile and watched as Shirou left. When he did, she turned back to Sakura. She felt herself grip her hand harder and she had to stop herself from crying. She had done enough of that tonight.

But seeing Sakura as she was right now…it just tore at her. The memory of her Sakura kept overlapping with the Sakura before her, and Saber struggled to keep herself from falling apart. Instead, she moved her hand to Sakura's hair and began twirling a stray strand of hair between her fingers.

That's when she noticed that the strand of hair she was playing with wasn't purple.

Saber's heart beated fast as she looked closely. It wasn't a trick of her mind. Sakura's hair was starting to turn…

Softly, and without even knowing she was doing it, Saber hummed a soft melody. One that was once used to bring her to sleep as a child.

A melody she had used to often put Sakura to sleep when the nightmares took hold.

The effect was immediate. Sakura's breathing steadied, and her face stopped looking like she was in pain. Instead, Sakura let out a sigh and she seemed more at peace. Saber looked, and found that the hair was back to the normal purple.

Saber fought back the urge to sigh. Instead, she just kept humming the same melody. Slowly, she too began to relax. Within moments, Saber fell asleep in her seating position.

That night, two people slept peacefully, the sounds a long lost lullaby echoing in their minds.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alright, this one took a long while to get out. It doesn't help the classes start in about 2 weeks.

I'll try to keep this going, but the updates will slow to a trickle. Hopefully, I can get it to update once a month.

Until we meet again.

Signed,

The Self Proclaimed Death God Child


	8. New Dawn

*pokes the story* Oi, you still alive?

*dust flies everywhere*

Yeah, I know, 2 years. I'm really sorry to all those who've been following this and if you choose to keep following, well you have my thanks. No promises, but I might as well try to finish this in the next few months before my imagination dies again. This one is a bit of a filler to jump start my writing again so I'm sorry if it's not up to par.

On with the show…

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/ Stay Night

XXXXXXXXXX

Shirou looked up to the sound of the door opening, only to see a very tired and messy looking Rin stumble through it. He watched, eyes wide with wonder, as the normally aloof model-student dragged herself to the refrigerator and took out the milk carton. Much to Shirou's dismay, she then proceeded to drink directly from it.

'Is-is this the real Tohsaka?' He thought as he watched in awe.

As if suddenly aware that she was being watched, Rin turned and looked at Shirou through half open eyes. Without saying anything, she brought herself to the table and sat across from him. For what felt like minutes, she just sat there, staring at him. The stare got so uncomfortable that Shirou could feel tiny beads of sweat drip down from his forehead.

"What are you looking at?" Rin deadpanned and Shirou fell over.

Sitting back up, Shirou found that Rin still looked half-asleep. Sighing inwardly, he just went back to eating his breakfast.

Before long, Rin broke the silence again. "Where's Saber? She's usually eating breakfast with you." Rin asked as she continued to drink from the milk carton.

"She's in one of the rooms, taking care of Sakura." Shirou answered.

Rin nodded in understanding before taking another gulp out of the carton. Halfway through, she paused, before her eyes opened all the way and she spat out the contents into Shirou's face.

"WHAT?"

XXXXXXXX

In a room not far from the living room, Sakura stirred slightly at the unexpected noise before falling back into restful sleep. At her bed side, Saber wrung a damp cloth into a bucket beside her before she began to dab Sakura's forehead with it.

A little bit after the yell, Saber's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps approaching fast. With it, she also heard the not-so-hushed words.

"What do you mean Saber found her? What was Saber doing outside the complex?" She heard Rin ask.

"I don't know, she only said that she felt something tug at her to go outside." Shirou had answered back.

"That's not normal, you know that right? It could have been a trap!"

"I said the same, but it wasn't a trap."

"That's right! It seems like it wasn't. You're such an idiot Emiya, there are more ways to lay a trap, even if they don't spring right away!"

With that, the door was pushed opened and a very alert looking Rin made her way inside. As she crossed the threshold though, she paused to fully take in the scene before her. Though she was high strung just a few seconds ago, the paling of her face was Saber's only way of telling that Rin was reevaluating the situation as she took in the sight of a very sick looking Sakura.

That or it was from the fear inducing glare Saber was giving her.

For a moment, everyone just stood still as the tension began to rise steadily. Sakura, looking worse for the wear. Saber, glaring at Rin in a baleful manner. Rin, trying to maintain her composure in the face of a angry (or was it annoyance? Can't really tell) Saber. And poor Shirou, just standing there looking between Saber and Rin, hoping that a fight won't ensure.

Then, Saber moved her hand and the others tensed. Slowly, she brought her hand in front of her face, and extended one finger.

"Shh, you'll wake her up with your noise." Saber whispered.

Had face faulting been possible, Shirou and Rin would have done so.

As Shirou and Rin struggled to come to terms with the fact that Saber just shushed them, said gothic loli turned back to where Sakura laid and kneeled down. Taking the washcloth, Saber delicately dabbed Sakura's brow. For a while, all was silent as Shirou and Rin watched Saber tend to a very fragile looking Sakura.

"Saber…" Rin started but stopped when Saber glared at her again. "Saber..." she tried again in a softer tone. "What's wrong with Sakura?"

"She has a high fever that hasn't changed all night. Every now and then, she slips back into conscious, but I do not think that she is even aware when she's awake." Saber said without turning to Rin. She continued to dab Sakura's head with one hand while the other pet Sakura's hair.

A slight movement caught Saber's eye and she turned her head up to see Rin sitting down on the other side of Sakura. Carefully, Rin placed a hand slightly above Sakura and closed her eyes. Saber's senses detected magic flowing from Rin's hand and she watched as Rin ran the hand over Sakura's body. After a few moments, the magic ceased and Rin opened her eyes.

"It is as Saber said. She has a high fever, but otherwise she is fine. However…I couldn't detect the source of this illness." Rin said.

Saber stayed silent through Rin's diagnostic. She had a slight clue as to what was going on. Something happened last night. Something dramatic. Whatever it was, it had directly hurt not only Sakura's physical state, but her mental one as well. Through her newly unearthed bond, Saber felt the echo of whatever it was that was going on in the sleeping form of Sakura.

And though it was only an echo, Saber knew one thing for sure. The feelings that she was receiving through the bond were anger, shame, and sorrow. From her past lifetime, her Sakura had told her when those feelings would be the strongest. When she was helpless before the Shadow…and when she had been at Shinji's mercy.

The Shadow wasn't fully awake yet, so that left one scenario.

And it took all of Saber's might to stop herself from breaking into the Matou household and slaughtering the fool who had dared to touch her precious Sakura.

So focused on controlling her anger, Saber didn't notice Shirou sitting down next to her. It wasn't until he pried the washcloth from her fingers did Saber take notice.

"Shirou-" She started but stopped when he started to wring the cloth and soak it in the cold water.

"You've been up all night tending to her Saber. I think it's time for you to rest." Shirou said. From the look in his eyes, Saber knew that he wouldn't budge. But while it was true that she had been up all night, she wasn't going to admit that she was tired.

"That may be true, but you need to go to school soon." Saber countered, snatching the washcloth from Shirou.

"I can skip-" He started but was interrupted by another faraway sound.

"Shirou, where are you!" The voice of Taiga resonated through the hall.

Sighing, Shirou got up, Rin closely following. Before they left, Saber spoke up.

"I will stay and tend to Sakura. I know that I can count on you to keep Shirou safe for now, right Rin?" She asked, looking at Rin.

The question shocked Rin and made her very puzzled. Why would a Servant entrust the safety of her Master to another? Sure, they were allies, but it was only for a while. From Rin's perspective, Saber's question was a way of saying that she trusted her. But…that shouldn't be right. With Saber stuck at the house, Rin could have free rein on attacking Shirou. The mage inside her squealed at the opportunity, and yet…

"You have my word." Rin said, then turned and left with Shirou.

With nothing else left, Saber went back to the task of tending to Sakura.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Illya was bored.

And when Illya was bored, she plotted.

Today, her plotting was all focused on her "onii-chan".

'I do hope that onii-chan recovers quickly. Tohsaka may be a second-rate magus but she isn't too incompetent as to botch up a healing spell. Then again, Berserker did hit him hard…'

Elsewhere, Rin had the sudden urge to strangle a white haired fairy.

Illya sighed. Here she was, the Master of Berserker and one of the most powerful magi in the Holy Grail War, trapped in a castle in the middle of the woods. The architecture of the castle reminded her distinctly of her home in Germany and even the room she was staying in had the same format as her room back home. But thankfully for her, and she was really grateful for this, it wasn't as cold here in Fuyuki as it was back at…

Illya sighed again. Despite the fact that the von Einzbern castle had been the place she lived most of her life, she couldn't truly call it her home. With a family that ignored her and the only person willing to talk to her was grandfather, who even then only saw her as a tool to be used. Illya wasn't even sure she had one. Maybe, once upon a time, it had been her home. Her earliest memories had been of warmth, despite the cold, unforgiving weather. She remembered laughing, trying to catch snow as it fell around her, as her father-

She stopped that thought , bitterly repressing the hurt that blossomed in her heart. She wasn't going to think of _him_. She wasn't going to let those thoughts hurt her anymore.

Getting up from the windowsill in her room, Illya made her way through the castle. Each echoing footstep pounded into her heart, as if to emphasize a fact that she's known for years.

Alone

Alone

All alone…

When she came to the main hall, she was greeted by her maids. At the sight, Illya smiled, her earlier thoughts slowly drifting away. Despite the fact that the maids had been sent with her by her grandfather to keep an eye on her, she did grow a little fond of them.

"I'm going out now." She said. "It's too boring here. Oh, and I'm leaving Berserker here too."

"Mistress, I think you should bring Berserker. We're in the middle of a war and if you're caught without your Servant, then that'll be the end of it." Sella said, her face stoic as ever despite the message she gave.

"Don't worry so much Sella, it's the middle of the day! The other Masters and Servants know better than to start fighting in public." Illya reassured her maid before skipping out of the castle.

Sella sighed at her mistress's naiveté and called out to her. She didn't even try controlling Illya now, especially when she got bored. "Just be back before night falls so you can have dinner!"

Honestly, one of these days…

XXXXXXXXX

Archer glared at the object in front of him so hard that it almost looked like he was angry at it. Instead, he looked like he was only annoyed with it. Said object rotated in mid-air slightly above one of Archer's hand while the other hand moved around the object. Every now and then the object pulsed with iridescent light, only to die down again.

Normally, Archer would be lazing around the school, keeping at least one eye on his Master. However, with the threat of Rider being neutralized for the time being, Archer could now divide his time to whatever he pleased. Like the project in front of him…

Archer's glare eased up when he felt the shift. He concentrated for a second before he found what he was looking for. He grabbed hold of it and within a nanosecond completely analyzed and copied the shift in magic. There, in the center of the blueprints, there was-

The object in his hand shattered and Archer pulled his hand away in time before any shards of it could imbed into his skin. He made a noise in the back of his throat and his eyebrows narrowed. He was so close that time. It was always around that crucial moment that the object would break, unable to fully adapt to the changes made to its most basic blueprints.

Whenever Archer made any modifications to his weapons, the changes were usually on how to make them hit his targets better or how to do more damage. Such modifications were simple to make, generally needing only some refining in the Noble Phantasm's mana flow. In the case of Caladbolg II, all he needed to do was take away its defensive properties and push all the mana into making it into a Broken Phantasm.

But the object before him, one he had only seen once in his life and had never really used it, was not suitable for combat usage. Its purpose wasn't for damage but its effects made it a really useful tool…one he needed to modify to fit the fight ahead.

Archer sighed and brought his hand up again. The object reappeared, just as it was before it shattered. He concentrated, breaking down the blueprints of the object into its most basic forms, trying so very hard to make the modifications he needed.

In the back of his mind, Archer hoped that he would be able to finish this project before the true fight began. His plans all depended on it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rider hid in the shadows of the building, unknown to any around her. She had been in that same spot for past few hours, trying to keep watch on her Master. But the bounded field that surrounded the premises kept her from going to her Master's side. Though there was nothing about them that would seriously impede her advance, they alerted those within of her presence.

And there was one person she didn't want to know she was there.

Rider brought a hand down the fabric of her dress, as if tracing something. Though Matou Zouken's work had left her with no scars, she could still feel that cursed blade cleaving through her body. A phantom sensation lingered where her fingers traveled, bringing a shiver to Rider's spine.

She had not known such fear since her death.

The fact that she came close to death wasn't what truly scared her though. No, it was what almost killed her. How the blade, as it passed through her skin as if through paper, left its corrupting darkness into her. How that darkness had quickly started to creep into her, passing through bone and muscle, right into her soul. Even with her diminished divinity, Rider knew that if she didn't bleed out soon, she would die of something even more horrible. The image was so clear in her mind that it was as if it was happening now.

Another shiver ran through her spine as she kept her eyes on the house in front of her. No, she couldn't retrieve her Master yet. Until she came back to her full power, she could not risk running into the being known as Saber again. She knew her Master was safe, at least for the time. Through her bond, she could feel the fever that plagued her Master. But she also knew, to her immense surprise, that someone was taking care of Sakura. She had watched as Saber's and Archer's Masters left the building and she couldn't feel any other Servants around her…save one.

Rider didn't know what to feel at the idea that a Servant of immense darkness was keeping her attention on her Master. Worried, anxious, nervous, right now she felt like a cluster of nerves all tightened up. What she was able to gleam of her Master's life, she found that Saber's Master was a kind boy, one who seemed to care for her Master. It was odd, knowing that your Master had such deep feelings for an enemy in a War that usually claimed the lives of Masters more than Servants.

Rider cursed Shinji for putting Sakura into this position. She cursed herself for not seeing this coming. After the failure of the battle last night, she should have seen that Shinji would use Sakura as an outlet for his frustrations. Rider wished with all her heart that her Master had decided to fight, instead of letting Shinji take that role. Despite her Master telling Rider over and over again that she loved Shinji, Rider could see that even her Master seemed to be believing in those words less and less every time she said them.

Whatever the case may be, Rider kept watch.

XXXXXXX

Saber's day passed by uneventfully. Except for going to get more water and some soup she fed to Sakura, Saber didn't leave the room. Sakura slept through the day, not once returning to consciousness. But thankfully, the fever had died down as the day passed and now it just seemed like all she needed was sleep.

Saber did her best to make sure that Sakura was comfortable. At one point during the day, she even put Sakura's head in her lap and stroked her hair, losing herself in past memories. She stayed that way, losing track of time until she felt a jolt run through her. Opening her senses, she found that the jolt came from the boundary field around the estate, warning her that people have crossed into it. Three people to be exact.

Sensing that it was Shirou, Saber removed herself from Sakura, gently laying her head back down onto the pillow. As she made her way out, Saber noticed that the sun had already set. Saber didn't care. Back when she was alive, whole years could have passed by (and sometimes did) before she even noticed.

As Saber opened the door to the main room, she found Shirou and Rin there. Shirou had a few bags in his arms while Rin was emptying one onto the table. In a small pile were a bunch of circular shaped objects wrapped in a shiny silver material. From the door, Saber could smell a delicious scent come from them.

"Ah Saber, how's Sakura doing?" Shirou asked from his spot as he slowly put the bags on the table.

"She's fine; she slept through most of the day. Her fever has pretty much gone now and I believe that all she needs now is rest." Saber paused for a moment, focusing her attention on the pile of silver objects. "Shirou, what are those?" She asked.

Shirou looked confusingly at the pile before his eyes widened. "Ah! I shouldn't be surprised that you've never seen these before. This is a Western style food called a hamburger. Rin and I were out late taking care of the sigils Rider had left in the school so we got take out instead of having to cook late."

Saber sat down at the table before picking one of the silver wrapped "food" and began fiddling with it. It was easy enough, finding how to unwrap it and what laid before her puzzled her even more.

Looking up, she saw Shirou in the kitchen making tea. "Shirou, would you be so kind as to get the silverware?" She called out.

"Oh, hamburgers don't need silverware, you just pick them up with your hands and eat it." Shirou answered before going back to making the tea.

Saber just stared at the odd looking food, before turning a little to watch Rin. The raven haired magus had the hamburger in both her hands and was taking small bites out of it. Saber could tell that while she seemed to be focused on the food, Rin was actually paying attention to Saber, hiding her smirk at Saber's confusion behind the burger.

Saber followed Rin's mannerisms and took the burger in her hands (and became offended when she felt the grease slip through her fingers) before she took a nibble out of it.

Rin watched carefully as the stoic Servant froze upon taking her first bite out of the burger, looking carefully as Saber's eyes widened in a moment of surprise. Rin held in the urge to giggle and further hid behind her own burger to try and hide-

**NOM**

Rin blinked a few times, eyes wide, to try to digest what she just saw. One moment Saber was frozen in place, only to suddenly open her mouth so wide that she chomped down on the whole entire burger, before putting her hands on the table, her face back to its default cold look, with the addition of slightly puffy cheeks as she chewed on her burger.

For a moment, Rin could have sworn she saw two rows of sharp teeth in Saber's mouth when she engulfed the burger.

As Saber ate her burger in silence, unaware of the fact that Rin and now Shirou were watching her with disbelieving eyes, she unfolded another one from the pile and gobbled (from Rin and Shirou's point of view. Saber's too refined to actually eat food like a barbarian) the second burger in two bites, each bite taking in half the hamburger. Rin and Shirou watched in awe as she quickly went through the pile of hamburgers.

When Saber was done, she took out a napkin and dabbed her mouth with it before standing up and heading out. "Thank you for the meal." She said, bowing, before leaving the room. Rin and Shirou stayed as they were, Saber's footsteps echoing in the halls before falling silent.

"…Shirou, your Servant scares me."

"I know."

"There's something extremely unnatural here."

"I know."

"I-I mean, come on! She just ate all those hamburgers in less than 5 minutes! Without even breaking a sweat!"

"…I know."

"…Fujimura-sensei is going to be mad, isn't she?"

Sigh. "I kno-"

"SHIROU!"

Rin and Shirou jumped as they heard the pounding of footsteps and got up when the door slammed open, revealing a wide-eyed Saber.

"Sakura is missing!"

"WHAT?"

XXXXXXXXX

Assassin was bored.

And when Assassin was bored…he tended to not do anything.

Currently, he was standing guard at the gate to Ryuudo Temple, keeping a vigilant watch to the only proper entrance. Commanded by his Master, the Servant Caster, Assassin could not do anything more than stand in the archway.

He sighed, wishing that another Servant would come out to fight him. Or anything. At this point, Assassin wished that anything would happen tonight.

Assassin felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle and age old instincts told him to dodge. Throwing himself to the left, he felt something pass where he was just standing, almost brushing up against him.

Assassin stopped to turn against the assailant. This act would prove to be his downfall. Not once did his instincts stop telling him to dodge, and the second he took to regain his footing and to look at his opponent was all it took.

The last thing Assassin saw was a pitch black shadow fall over him. His last thoughts were that he took back his wish for anything to happen tonight.

XXXXXXXX

And…end. If you notice, this chapter has a more…lighthearted tone to it as opposed to last chapter. Well, as they say, "it is darkest before dawn" and a new day has begun.

Well, this one took…2 years to write. Ok, so I've been adding to this over the past two years to try to restart this story and it was only this past week when I finished it. I hope you all enjoyed it.

With this, I make my return!


	9. Chasing Shadows

I'm writing this while on the road so I hope I get a few good ideas in before I'm swarmed by too much vacation.

Last chapter did its job of jump starting ideas in this fic so now I'm doing all I can to bring this story to full circle.

PLEASE REVIEW, IT HELPS ME WRITE KNOWING WHAT YOU GUYS THINK OF IT!

With that said, on with the show…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Panic was probably the most prevalent emotion running through Saber's mind at the moment. But true to her nature and emotional fortitude, the only outward signs of her inner conflict were the slight scowl on her face and the tiniest narrowing of the eyes. As she jumped across the rooftops of the neighborhood, Saber only half-heartily made sure that her greaves did not crush the roofing as she tried to vent the pent up emotions in her.

House owners would later ponder how giant dents in their roofs appeared.

In the back of her mind, Saber noted that Shirou, Rin, and Archer were just barely keeping up, the last only because he was guarding their Masters just in case. Shirou's voice echoed through her head through their bond, switching between telling her to stop and asking where they were going.

Saber didn't respond. The only thing running through her mind was where Sakura was at. She reached desperately for the bond that had awakened between them, but it was slippery, moving out of her grasp every time she tried to get a grip on it. But even though she couldn't grab hold, she could feel its nature and it sent a slight shiver up her spine.

She could feel the darkness emanating from Sakura's end. It beckoned to her, pulling her into the sweet, sweet silence, tempting her with false promises of peace and rest. Saber knew, deep in the bowls of her soul, that this wasn't right. That everything in the bond should have sent her spirit screaming at the Wrongness of it all. That everything that came from the Shadow, in all its forms, was Wrong.

It only made things worse that despite knowing that, Saber felt it was right.

This wasn't the first time that Saber questioned why she became a Servant. She knew, in the case of Rider and Caster, that there were Servants with histories of darkness. Up until now she just chalked it all up as the Grail's work. But now, as far as she knew, she was the only Servant with such a close affinity to the Grail, save for the original Avenger. For her to be summoned by the Grail…

The implications were ominous.

She brushed that train of thought aside. Right in the here and now, Saber had to find Sakura. And reaching into the depths of her memories, she changed directions, heading to the location of one of the most pivotal events in the 5th Holy Grail War.

Ryuudo Temple…the place where she was consumed by the Shadow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where…is…your…Servant…going?" Rin panted as she tried to keep up with Shirou. She cursed Archer, who was matching her pace, not even looking like he was breaking a sweat. As soon as Saber had made her announcement, she had shifted into her armor and ran out of the house at full speed. Shirou and Rin had scrambled to get their shoes on (and in Rin's case, some jewels) and had barely gotten out of the house when Saber had neared the edge of their magical senses. Thankfully, Archer's natural Servant skills allowed him to keep track of her, if only just barely.

"She's slowing down." Archer announced, not a single hint of exhaustion in his voice. Rin mustered the energy to glare at her Servant, who didn't give any indication that he was listening.

"Where is she?" Shirou got out, only slightly winded. Really, Rin thought, did he always have that much stamina?

"At the base of a hill…there seems to be a pathway up it to another area, but I can't seem to see it." Archer frowned. "Something's stopping me from seeing into it."

Rin gave Archer a disbelieving look. The Archer class was one blessed with eyes like a hawk. When they had first scouted the city, Archer had proven that his eyes were up to the standards (and probably went beyond) of his class by pointing out miniscule details to Rin about people that were far away in the city. For him to be unable to see something…this reeked too much like magic.

"It seems like she has found a Master's base." Rin said, her voice going cold at the implications. If Saber had tracked Sakura to a Master's base, then that meant that said Master must have known about Sakura's link to Shirou and Rin and was using her as bait to a trap.

When they finally reached the base of the path, they found a stoic Saber staring up the path, still in full armor.

"Saber, why did you bring us here?" Shirou asked, hands on knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sakura is up there somewhere…and there's a field around the hill that is inhibiting me." Saber responded, not even bothering to face them.

Rin frowned, brought her hand up, and muttered a few words, causing her hands to glow slightly. Her frowned only deepened as she cancelled it and let her hands drop to her side.

"She's right. There is a field around the hill. One that specifically targets spiritual beings." Rin said, before her frown turned into a scowl. "The only safe way up that doesn't hinder us is the passage right here. This reeks too much like a trap."

"It's the fastest way up." Saber snapped, causing Rin and Shirou to flinch and Archer to frown.

"Be that as it may, we need to proceed cautiously. We can't be running in not knowing anything." Archer said the last one with a lighter tone and resisted the urge to smirk.

Saber had enough self-control to not show that the irony of the statement had struck a nerve. What was worse was that it might not be true anymore. Saber bit her lip at the thought. Her presence here might have already shifted the past…she may not be able to predict what came next.

Saber resisted the urge to shake her head. No, she couldn't afford to think like this. She knew enough of the past to know where certain events needed to take place…and who needed to die. Even if some events may have changed, Saber knew her goals and if she needed to adjust to the changes, she will.

Without acknowledging Archer's statement, Saber made the slow trek up to the temple, Rin and Shirou at her heels while Archer carried the rear. Halfway up, they crossed the line into the Bounded field. Almost immediately, Saber and Archer felt their bodies being repelled by the field, trying to push them out. Archer didn't let it show, but the strain of crossing the field lowered his powers and slowed him down. Since Saber was leading them, the others didn't see her scowl as she crossed the field, but they noticed her pace slowed to a walk. They made the trip in silence, though the tension in the air was palpable. Saber with her restrained anger and, though the others didn't know it, worry, Rin and Shirou with nervousness, and Archer, who seemed to give off a sense of calmness, despite the other Servant's rage.

Their nerves were frayed even more when they reached the top.

"Is that…blood?" Shirou got out as he and the rest of the party stared at the same spot. They were standing near the archway at the top of the path when they had come across the spot. A rather large spot of blood (and to Saber's and Archer's eyes, still a bit fresh) had been splashed on the stones, though there didn't seem to have been a struggle.

"I believe it is…" Saber said, her anger forgotten as she looked at the blood. She searched her memories but for the life of her she had a hard time figuring out whose blood this was. Caster and her Master were inside, supposed to be attacked by True Assassin. ..wait.

It all started to come back to her. Saber recalled True Assassin and his Master…Zouken. Sometime in her future, Sakura had informed her of all the details of Zouken's involvement in the War…including his summoning of True Assassin by using the remains of the fake!

Saber stepped closer to Shirou and kept her eyes peeled. She knew she couldn't sense True Assassin, thanks to the power of his Presence Concealment skill. The only thing she could do now was wait for True Assassin to make his move.

A pained yell echoed across the area. A woman's scream. Shirou and Rin tensed again, forgetting about the blood stain and trying to find the source of the noise. Archer's twin swords appeared in his hand and he stepped closer to Rin, while Rin pulled a shining jewel from…well her skirt. Shirou…

"Someone's in trouble!" Shirou yelled and took off towards the noise. Rin and Saber stood there, stupefied by the action for a second before Saber took off after him, cursing under her breath.

Archer poked his Master in the face. "Shouldn't we help him?" He asked.

A tick mark appeared on Rin's head as she swiped at Archer. He dodged, a smirk tugging at his lips. Huffing, Rin ran after Shirou and Saber with a still smirking Archer by her side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Saber crossed the archway, she felt the pressure on her body ease up. The sudden ease she found in moving almost made it feel like she was weightless. With just a few strides, she caught up to her Master and pulled him to a stop.

"Shirou, what do you think you're doing?" She asked, her gauntlet firmly taking hold of his shoulder. She ignored the wince that crossed his face but eased her grip.

"There's a woman being attacked! What do you expect me to do, just let it happen?" He said, his voice raised a little.

"I expect you to let me do my duty." Saber replied, a little cold and Shirou couldn't help his irritation fade a bit. "If I let you run off on your own, not even knowing if you're walking straight into an ambush, what kind of Servant would I be? You need to let me be what I am meant to be: your shield." She said the last one softly, letting her hand fall from his shoulder.

Shirou looked away and was about to say something when another yell filled the air. He looked at Saber and though her gold eyes betrayed little, if no emotion, an understanding passed through them. He let himself smile a little and nodded to Saber, whose face had set itself to its usual blank stare. She took off toward the sound, this time with Shirou right beside her.

Saber ran through the courtyard and had made her way halfway around the temple when she started to hear the noises. At first, she couldn't tell what it was, but as she got closer she was able to determine that it was the sound of multiple chimes. As she got around the corner, she slowed down to take in the scene before her.

Caster was in the middle of the back courtyard, standing over the body of a person protectively, a hand above her head while the other hovered over the person on the floor. Saber only vaguely recognized the body, but couldn't place who it was. Whoever it was, he was bleeding heavily from his chest.

A small, black blur flashed toward Caster from the edges of Saber's vision. It would have been a lethal blow, but at the last second it hit a shimmer of color that seemed to surround Caster, the chime echoing across the backyard again before Saber saw the dark object clatter onto the stone pavement. Although it didn't hit, Saber noticed that Caster seemed to flinch a little with each attack on her shields. To Saber's trained eyes, it appears that Caster had some wounds of her own and was using the last of her mana to try to protect the collapsed man, who Saber could only guess was her Master.

Another flash of dark metal clanged against the shield and Saber tracked the origins. Although a long time had passed since Saber had seen her one time "ally", it was easy enough to recognize him. Limbs, long and lanky, but toned with lean muscles on an almost skeletal frame. His own skin was covered from head to toe in a black garb that faded in and out with the surrounding shadows he jumped through. The part that stuck out the most though was his face, or to be precise, what was on his face. Coving most of his face was a bone white skull mask, set forever in an almost mocking facial expression.

True Assassin darted across the roof top, throwing his Darts at Caster, hitting her shield at many angles. From where Saber was standing, it didn't seem like he had noticed their presence yet.

"Who is that?" Shirou whispered, his eyes trying to follow Assassin's movements.

"From what I can tell, that is the Servant Assassin." Saber replied, her own eyes easily following the movements.

"What should we do?" Shirou asked, looking back and forth between Caster and Assassin.

"I say we attack them both." Rin said, suddenly appearing beside them. Archer was right behind her, his eyes calmly taking in the situation. "I believe that one in the courtyard is Caster. She looks weakened at the moment and is forcing all her mana to defending herself. Her shield won't last. If we act fast, we can take out two Servants at the same time." Rin planned out, hiding the glee at the prospect of taking out two of the competition so soon.

"I can take care of Caster." Archer said, his first time coming into the battle planning. "Shirou and Rin stay back, with Rin providing some cover. Shirou can't do anything other than charge in and draw attention to himself and we don't need a distraction right now." At this, Shirou blushed and glared at Archer while Saber just stared at Archer. "If Saber could get the drop on Assassin, she could end this in an instant."

The two Masters nodded at this, one smiling while the other still had a glare on his face. They looked at Saber, who was still keeping track of the battle. Her eyes looked at the other three before she looked back at the battle, their only sign that she was still listening.

"Your plan is sound." She said flatly.

Archer let himself smirk. "Well then, ladies first." He said before tracing his black and white blades.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Assassin's only warning was the shift in the wind and the shadow that came from above. Without even thinking about it, he dove out of the way, tucking into a roll before skidding onto the roof.

Or at least that was what he was planning, but instead the sheer force of the attack sent him flying, despite not being hit by it. Even though he managed to dodge, he still felt debris hit him as he twisted in midair to land on his feet.

As Assassin regained his footing, he heard a battle cry from where the attack took place. Looking up, he saw a woman, clad in armor just as black as his, race towards him, holding a pitch black blade that glowed eerily under the moonlight.

If Assassin felt any fear, he couldn't (nor would he) show it, as he flung his darts at the Servant. She weaved through the darts' paths, her charge only slightly slowing. That was all Assassin needed. As Saber finally reached him, Assassin was more than ready to dodge the overhead strike, despite the fact that it only looked like a blur of black light.

Saber pressed her attack against Assassin, but Assassin kept dodging her strikes. No matter where she struck, he seemed to pull away at the last second, forcing Saber to waste time righting herself before she overextended. Saber knew without a doubt that it would only take one decisive blow from her sword to end Assassin, whose class was not meant for direct combat with any of the other classes. What he lacked in endurance and strength, he made up with his ability to kill swiftly if a Master (or on the off chance, a Servant) let down their guard. Against the best of the classes, Assassin would only fall to Saber's blade.

But that didn't matter if he kept. On. DODGING!

Saber's strikes managed to push Assassin to the edge of the roof he was on but as she swung at him again, he back flipped off the roof, into the air.

Into the path of two spinning swords.

But before they could converge on him, Assassin tucked himself into a ball in midair, save for his right arm, which was as stiff as a tree. This show of acrobatics allowed the two swords to just miss hitting him, though one nicked the bundle that was Assassin's right arm. Instead, the two swords hit each other, right in front of Assassin's face.

Then they exploded.

The force of the Broken Phantasms slammed Assassin into the ground, giving Saber the opportunity she needed. She jumped from the roof top and landed straight on top of Assassin before he had a chance to get up. A cough escaped from Assassin as the air was forced out of his body. Saber brought her leg up and stomped down on Assassin again, grinding the heel of her greave into his ribcage. This time, Assassin only grunted, but Saber heard the barest hint of his ribs cracking. She made sure that Assassin was pinned down, before bringing up her glowing sword, ready to take off his head.

Wait…glowing?

Saber took a moment to study Excalibur. At the moment, she wasn't actively channeling her prana into the sword. And yet it was glowing, the dark light pulsing brighter and brighter with each passing second. But for the life of her, Saber couldn't tell why.

"What are you waiting for, kill him!" Rin's voice shook her out of her train of thought. Shaking her head, Saber turned her attention back to Assassin, whose breathing was getting heavier. She positioned her blade and brought it down on his head-

Only to stop as something pierced through the darkness.

It was quiet yet loud at the same time. It came from far away, yet Saber could hear it whispering seductively in her ear. It sent shivers to the very core of her soul, its echoes reverberating through her bones. The very force of its presence seemed to root her in the spot she was, her muscles tensing unconsciously. And with dawning horror, she knew what it was.

But the worst part…the worst part was the fact that she could understand it.

**So cold…So alone…So…hungry. I must feed. I. !**

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Tohsaka, I know I'm new to this, but could you stop yelling at Saber?" Shirou said, only to get a glare in response.

"It's the third day of the War and we have the greatest opportunity to take out TWO Servants! One is down for the count and the other, the one known as the "Bane of all Masters" is under your Servant's heel. So why is she frozen?" Rin ranted, yelling the last part at Saber.

It was all going so well too. At first, Assassin's dexterity worried Rin, especially when he kept on doing such high level acrobatics to evade Saber's blade, which Rin had a hard time keeping track of. Shirou had only stood by and watched as Saber pressed Assassin. With Caster more or less out of the fight (Rin was gonna ask Archer later why he just knocked her out rather than kill her), Archer's timely intervention had let Rin start to get her hopes up, which turned into full elation when Saber had pinned Assassin down.

But now, with victory in their grasp, Saber suddenly froze. Although Assassin hadn't done anything yet to get out from underneath Saber, as seconds passed Rin couldn't help but feel anxiety start to take hold.

Shirou, for his part, was just as confused and worried as Rin, but with different reasons. Although this was the third time he had seen Saber fought, her power and grace still left him awed. Though he was reluctant to kill, he knew that he should be glad that it was a Servant, especially one that, according to Rin, killed Masters. But ever since Saber froze, a sense of unease had fallen on Shirou. He couldn't tell what was causing it, but something just didn't seem…right.

Archer, with his ability to enhance the vision on his eyes, was privy to more info than the two Masters. For one, he noticed that Saber's muscles were tense, even through the armor. Second, she seemed to have an ironclad grip on her sword. Third…her eyes were wide, the pupils small, and it almost seemed like she was shaking.

As Archer kept searching for hints to Saber's sudden change in behavior, he noticed her sword for the first time. Had it always glowed like that?

Saber suddenly snapped her head up and looked at the direction Rin and Shirou were in, her eyes wide and fearful. Archer, catching the movement, followed her line of sight to where they were. But when his eyes found them, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Confused, he tried to look closer.

Then the shadow of the tree behind them stood up.

"LOOK OUT!" He yelled, tracing a bow and Caladbolg II in an instant, knowing that it wouldn't be fast enough.

Rin's eyes widened and she tried to turn around. 'Stupid, don't turn around, just RUN!' Archer thought as he pulled the bowstring back. But it might as well have been at a snail's pace. Archer cursed himself in the back of his mind, the world going in slow motion as Rin and Shirou both turned around, while the shadow itself lunged closer to them. The shadow itself looked like a mass of pure darkness. It had no definite shape, looking more like a blob with a few tendrils sticking out of it. It lunged, tendrils stretched out, reaching for both Shirou and Rin.

Archer felt it before he saw it. A pulse of prana and long line of darkness, oddly matching that of the shadow, wrapped itself around the shadow, pulling it off its trajectory. It landed on the ground, and Archer could have sworn he heard screeching coming from it, as steam started to erupt from it. Rin and Shirou backpedalled away, putting as much distance between them and the unknown creature as possible. Archer followed the line to the source and almost gasped.

Saber stood, her feet grounded into the ground, holding Excalibur like a fishing pole. Only then did Archer notice that Excalibur's blade had broken into fragments, exactly like a snake sword, and that was what was wrapped around the shadow. Saber looked like she was struggling to hold her blade, and Archer could see that her feet seemed to be slipping from the surface it was on. The blade itself pulsed in the moonlight, sending a steady flow of prana into the part that was wrapped around the shadow, which seemed to harm it if the screeches Archer was hearing was any indication.

"Well…that's new." Archer mused out loud, slightly taken aback by Excalibur's strange new feature.

Seeing his chance, Archer nocked Caladbolg II into his bow and Broke it. As the prana levels in the sword-arrow grew, he took aim, and released.

The sword-arrow shined through the night as it flew towards the mass of shadows. Held down, the shadow could do nothing as it was hit. The explosion that followed made Archer shield his eyes, but he took satisfaction when he heard an even larger screech come from it.

As the dust cleared, Archer spotted Saber's sword reel in on itself before reforming into its regular blade. But as he searched, Archer couldn't find any other sign of the shadow.

"What the hell was that?" Rin screeched as Shirou pulled her up from where she had fallen. The force of the blast had thrown the two away, but other than some debris, it didn't seem like they were hit. Of the two, Shirou seemed worse for the wear, probably because he shielded Rin from the blast.

"Master, are you alright?" Saber asked, running up to the two Masters, only to pull back when Rin glared at her.

"Something just tried to kill us, we get tossed around like dolls, and you JUST LOST ASSASSIN! WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Rin yelled, her voice raising with each word. Shirou, still trying to adjust to this new image of the school idol, backed away, fearing for his life.

Saber only glared. "It was either kill Assassin and let you two die, or save you. I made the best choice." She grounded out, her voice going cold. "If I could have done both, I would have, but I had to use all my power to just hold that thing."

The implications of that statement hit Shirou before the others could pick up on it. "Saber, are you alright?" He asked, his voice laced with worry, and with good reason. Saber looked like she was about to collapse. Her sword was dangling loosely in her hand and her eyes seemed to have trouble focusing on them. Add to the fact that now that he was looking for the signs, Saber seemed to be swaying, if only a little.

Saber only furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know what you…what you mean." She got out, before collapsing forward, only to be caught by Shirou. She brought one arm around him, trying to hold herself up, but it seemed like a futile effort on her part. Without meaning to, her armor disappeared, replaced by her gothic dress.

"We need to get her back." Archer said, his weapons disappearing. He still kept his eyes peeled, just in case Assassin or that shadow came back while Saber was weak.

"But what about Sakura?" Shirou asked, bringing up the reason why they were out in the middle of the night. The other two cursed, having forgotten about the girl. But with Saber weakened, they would be a vulnerable target, having to rely only on Archer to protect two Masters.

"She's hurt…" A voice softly said.

Archer, Rin, and Shirou looked down at Saber, who was still leaning into Shirou. Her eyes were half-lidded and it seemed like she wasn't really there at the moment. Shirou picked her up bridal style and tried to shake her awake a little.

"Saber, what do you mean?" Shirou asked, concerned from her statement.

Saber's eyes kept trying to focus but she couldn't. Instead, she weakly lifted her arm and pointed into the forest.

"There…" She got out before her arm dropped.

Shirou and Rin shared a look, before Rin went off into the direction Saber had pointed, Archer following her. Things were silent for a few seconds before Rin came running back, her eyes wide.

"We found her." Was all she said before Archer emerged from the forest with a sleeping Sakura in his arms. She was still in the night gear that Saber had her in, if only a little dirty. "I don't know how she ended up here, but her fever is all but gone. She's still very weak though. We need to get her to your house quick."

"Alright." Shirou said and was about to walk off when Saber stirred in his arms. "Saber?"

"I can…walk." Saber got out, trying to let herself down from where Shirou was holding her. She found it difficult though, as Shirou kept her from escaping.

"No, you're really weak right now. Whatever you did to stop that thing drained you of your prana." Shirou said.

"But…what about…Caster?" Saber mumbled.

The two Masters looked back where Caster was, still lying on the ground.

"I'll take care of her." Rin volunteered. "Now that she's down, it should be easy to just kill her."

"No, I'll do it."

Both Shirou and Rin snapped their heads towards Archer. The tanned Servant had been silent up until this point.

"There's a difference between killing an opponent in battle and killing one that's helpless." Archer pointed out. "And I don't think you're heartless enough to slit a helpless woman's throat."

The last statement got a flinch out of Rin and she looked down. Archer sighed, before going over to Rin and pushed Sakura onto her back, earning a yelp from his Master.

"A-Archer! What-"

"Just give her a piggyback back to Emiya's place. I'll take care of Caster." He paused. "Oh, and you shouldn't be here when I do it, don't want you traumatized. Don't worry, I'll join you shortly."

Rin and Shirou blushed a little, before Shirou started to make his way to the path they had taken. Rin only brought Sakura up more, before following. She glanced back at Archer, her nervousness barely concealed.

When the four were out of sight, Archer approached Caster and shook her. Groggily, she woke up.

"Now then, you and I are going to have a little talk…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The trip back home was relatively peaceful, with Archer joining them when they had reached the bottom of the hill. They walked in silence, only once talking when Rin asked if Caster was really dead.

"Ahhh, come on Master, have a little faith in me." He smirked, earning a glare from Rin.

As they entered the house, Saber finally managed to convince Shirou to let her down. Reluctantly, he did, but not before fussing over her. He tried to fight the urge to blush, having held Saber for the past hour. If the smirk from Archer was any indication, it seemed like he failed.

They put Sakura back to bed, only leaving after Rin put some more monitoring spells on the room. Afterwards, they gathered at the table, with Shirou in the kitchen to make some tea.

Saber slowly sat down, still feeling the drain on whatever she did back at the Temple. When it had happened, she didn't even think. All she did was react to and instinct that just popped in her mind. The next thing she knew, Excalibur had broken into a weird new form, wrapped around the shadow, and harmed it. Saber felt as if she had just used Excalibur herself, with all the prana that had suddenly gone into the attack.

Saber was so lost in her thoughts that she had missed the conversation about the battle that the Masters were having. Only when Shirou started calling her name did she snap out of it.

"You say something Master?" Saber asked, earning a sigh from Shirou. Looks like it was back to being called Master…

"Do you want to rest Saber? Whatever had happened took a lot of prana out of you." Shirou offered, showing his concern.

"That reminds me." Rin jumped in, looking back between Shirou and Saber. "I know Shirou doesn't have a lot of magical circuits, but you shouldn't be this low on energy. Did you have to pour everything you had into holding that shadow still?" Rin asked.

"Yes. As soon as I caught it, I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it without giving my all." Saber said, only saying half the truth. She did give her all in holding it, but the pull on her prana happened on its own. It was as if Excalibur automatically took from her when she was facing it…

Rin sighed. "We can't have you running near on empty. As much as I hate to admit it, you're a powerful ally. If you don't have enough to fight effectively, then we need to do all we can to help you."

"What do you have in mind?" Shirou asked, curious as to how Rin wanted to help.

"Well…normally Servants would go out and hunt for energy, usually taking prana from other human beings. The downside is that that's how the other Servants are fueling themselves and causing all these "gas leaks" we've been hearing about. Knowing you Shirou, we're throwing this option out." Rin started explaining. "The best option we have is a transfer ritual, which would allow for a more concrete bond between Saber and Shirou."

"That sounds perfect." Shirou said, excited at the prospect of helping Saber. "What does this ritual need?"

"Well…" Rin paused, before going on to explain it to Shirou and Saber.

By the end of it, Shirou was blushing like crazy, Archer was nonchalantly sipping his tea, and Saber was staring off into space, a blank look on her face.

"W-w-WHAT?" Shirou managed to get out, his whole entire body red from blushing.

"You heard me correctly. You and Saber need to have…relations." Rin got out, slightly blushing herself.

The table was silent for a few moments as everyone tried to get over the awkwardness of the situation.

"Can we do it now?" Saber asked, speaking for the first time since Rin got done.

"WHAT?" Shirou yelled and whipped his head at Saber, Rin doing the same.

A bit of color came to Saber's face, making her look less washed out. "This ritual is our best bet of making sure I can serve you Shirou. If we don't, I might not be able to protect you in this War." She said, keeping her voice steady and reasonable.

Which, contrary to what the others may have thought, was very difficult at the moment.

"Well…it doesn't really take any preparation." Rin slowly said, her face coloring even more.

Saber was silent for a few moments, looking down at her lap. Then, looking up, the others saw a look of determination in her eyes. She got up and, with an unnatural strength that shouldn't be there, grabbed Shirou's hand and brought him up, before dragging him out of the room, despite his stuttering protests.

Rin just stared at the open door, Shirou's voice fading in the distance. She would have stayed there, if Archer hadn't poked her in the face.

"You know, without you there to do the ritual, they're just having sex." Archer pointed out, Rin blushing at the bluntness of his statement. She got up, stuttering a good night, before leaving.

Archer sighed while sipping his tea. Despite Saber being tainted by the Shadow, Archer really envied Shirou right now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And done!

I hope you guys like this one, I think it's the longest chapter I've done so far.

Remember, reviews make me happy!


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